Exercise mimetic

Drugs that have health benefits similar to exercise

Various exercise mimetics and their effects on pathways also affected by exercise[1]

An exercise mimetic is a drug that mimics some of the biological effects of physical exercise. Exercise is known to have an effect in preventing, treating, or ameliorating the effects of a variety of serious illnesses, including cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and psychiatric and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. As of 2021, no drug is known to have the same benefits.[2][3][1]

Known biological targets affected by exercise have also been targets of drug discovery, with limited results. These known targets include:[2]

Targets  | Drug candidates

|

irisin[2] |
brain-derived neurotrophic factor[2] |
interleukin-6[2] |
peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta | GW501516[2]
PPAR gamma coactivator 1-alpha[4] |
estrogen-related receptor γ/α | GSK4716[2] SLU-PP-332
NFE2L2[4] |
Canonical transient receptor potential (TRPC) proteins[5] |
Myostatin | myostatin inhibitors[6]

The majority of the effect of exercise in reducing cardiovascular and all-cause mortality cannot be explained via improvements in quantifiable risk factors, such as blood cholesterol. This further increases the challenge of developing an effective exercise mimetic.[1] Moreover, even if a broad spectrum exercise mimetic were invented, it is not necessarily the case that its public health effects would be superior to interventions to increase exercise in the population.[1]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d Hawley, John A.; Joyner, Michael J.; Green, Daniel J. (February 2021). "Mimicking exercise: what matters most and where to next?". The Journal of Physiology. 599 (3): 791–802\. doi:10.1113/JP278761. ISSN 0022-3751. PMC 7891316. PMID 31749163.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Jang, Young Jin; Byun, Sanguine (31 December 2021). "Molecular targets of exercise mimetics and their natural activators". BMB Reports. 54 (12): 581–591\. doi:10.5483/BMBRep.2021.54.12.151. ISSN 1976-6696. PMC 8728540. PMID 34814977.
3. ^ Febbraio, Mark A. (February 2017). "Health benefits of exercise — more than meets the eye!". Nature Reviews Endocrinology. 13 (2): 72–74\. doi:10.1038/nrendo.2016.218. ISSN 1759-5037. PMID 28051119. S2CID 5824789.
4. ^ a b Cento, Alessia S.; Leigheb, Massimiliano; Caretti, Giuseppina; Penna, Fabio (October 2022). "Exercise and Exercise Mimetics for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Disorders". Current Osteoporosis Reports. 20 (5): 249–259\. doi:10.1007/s11914-022-00739-6. hdl:2434/936387. PMC 9522759. PMID 35881303.
5. ^ Numaga-Tomita, Takuro; Oda, Sayaka; Nishiyama, Kazuhiro; Tanaka, Tomohiro; Nishimura, Akiyuki; Nishida, Motohiro (March 2019). "TRPC channels in exercise-mimetic therapy". Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology. 471 (3): 507–517\. doi:10.1007/s00424-018-2211-3. PMC 6515694. PMID 30298191.
6. ^ Allen, David L.; Hittel, Dustin S.; McPherron, Alexandra C. (October 2011). "Expression and Function of Myostatin in Obesity, Diabetes, and Exercise Adaptation". Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 43 (10): 1828–1835\. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182178bb4. ISSN 0195-9131. PMC 3192366. PMID 21364474.