14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new paper published in the journal Cell Metabolism, it could happen that, at some point in the future, people will get at least one of the benefits of exercising from a simple protein jab.
Thus, researchers claim that a protein that the body produces during intense exercise sessions and that has previously been documented to promote brain health could be turned into a drug.
This breakthrough would first and foremost bring new hope to people diagnosed with various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
In the case of these people, the protein jabs would help improve cognitive function, EurekAlert tells us.
In their paper, the researchers working on this project detail that, thus far, they have only used this protein to boost learning abilities and memory in laboratory mice.
Thus, the scientists first collected the protein, known as FNDC5, from the blood of mice that had been previously subjected to endurance training. Later, they administered it to non-exercising mice, and monitored them to see how they responded to it.
In order to expose the second group of mice to FNDC, the researchers bound the protein to a harmless virus, which they injected into the rodent's bloodstream.
By the looks of it, the rodents that were given this protein experienced a boost in the activity levels of certain genes that release a protein known as BDNF, which is in charge of fostering growth of new nerves and promoting brain health.
“What is exciting is that a natural substance can be given in the bloodstream that can mimic some of the effects of endurance exercise on the brain,” researcher Bruce Spiegelman with the Harvard Medical School commented on these findings.
“Perhaps the most exciting result overall is that peripheral deliver of FNDC5 with adenoviral vectors is sufficient to induce central expression of BNNF and other genes with potential neuroprotective functions or those involved in learning and memory,” he and his colleagues further argued.
The researchers wish to carry out further investigations and determine whether or not FNDC5 could be turned into a drug and used to treat human patients suffering from impaired cognitive function.