Hopes exercise drug could stave off ageing

Scientists have discovered a new exercise enzyme which slows the ageing process, sparking hopes for a new drug to mimic workout conditions.

Scientists hope to develop a drug to mimic a workout and stave off conditions such as diabetes. Picture: iStock

One of the secrets ways exercise slows the ageing process has been uncovered, raising the prospect of developing drugs to mimic a workout and stave off conditions such as diabetes.

Monash University scientists have discovered levels of an enzyme are increased during exercise, triggering a mechanism that rewards the body by promoting metabolic health and enhancing its responsiveness to insulin.

The newly discovered exercise enzyme process has so far only been fully studied in animals, however the team led by Professor Tony Tiganis hopes to confirm the process in larger human studies next year.

Because the key enzyme – called NOX4 – can be targeted by existing compounds, Prof Tiganis said the discovery may open up the potential for drugs to protect against consequences of ageing such as muscle wasting and diabetes for the aged or those who cannot exercise sufficiently, if the animal studies can be replicated.

One of the compounds needed to trigger the exercise chain reaction can even be found naturally in vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower – though Prof Tiganis said the amount needed to produce the anti-ageing effects would be more than most people are willing to consume, sending scientists scrambling to their labs rather than the vegie patch.

“In mice it prevents a decline in frailty,” Prof Tiganis said.

“By maintaining muscle function and preventing the decline in insulin sensitivity we are maintaining metabolic health and health overall.

“A lack of activity as we age in particular can accelerate the decline in health and promote the development of insulin resistance and thereby increase the risk for type two diabetes...so it’s a major problem as the population ages.

“We now know that we can overcome the decline in NOX4 by activating pathways downstream of NOX4.”

A reduction in physical activity as people age has been suspected as a major reason for spiralling rates of Type 2 diabetes, though the exact reasons why the body develops an inability to respond to insulin as we get older remained a mystery.

But results published in the Science Advances journal not only reveal that levels of the NOX4 can double or quadruple during exercise, but that the enzyme is vital in kickstarting the mechanism that drives metabolic health.

Prof Tiganis said preliminary studies in humans have shown exercise increases levels of NOX4, though larger studies are needed to determine the extent the enzymes levels decrease with age.

While drugs to directly increase levels NOX4 without exercise may be too difficult to create, Prof Tiganis said boosting the protective mechanisms it triggers appeared within reach.

“The compound that is in broccoli we know activates these pathways and there’s a lot of interest in developing drugs based on this compound,” he said.

“At this stage is too early to tell (its potential) in humans but, in mice, it is certainly able to prevent the decline in a metabolic health with age. So we’re hoping that will translate to humans.”