Researchers find drugs that enhance strength

John Carroll — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:20:15 -0400

Two drugs known as Aicar and GW1516 have a dramatic ability to enhance the strength and fitness of animals, according to researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego. And the same compounds may offer the same advantages to humans.

Specialists in the diabetes and obesity fields were quick to see the potential, and researchers noted that new drugs could meet a major unmet medical need in patients who were frail or simply no longer able to exercise.

This breakthrough study--led by the renowned scientist Dr. Ronald M. Evans--followed the crucial insight that the PPAR-delta protein remodels muscle and generates high levels of Type 1 fiber needed for endurance. By genetically engineering mice to produce elevated levels of the protein, researchers observed the rodents were able to run twice as far as normal mice. Drugs, such as the two cited, could produce the same effect in humans.

- read the article in the New York Times