• BMB Reports
• /
• 제54권12호
• /
• pp.581-591
• /
• 2021

Physical exercise can be effective in preventing or ameliorating various diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. However, not everyone may be able to participate in exercise due to illnesses, age-related frailty, or difficulty in long-term behavior change. An alternative option is to utilize pharmacological interventions that mimic the positive effects of exercise training. Recent studies have identified signaling pathways associated with the benefits of physical activity and discovered exercise mimetics that can partially simulate the systemic impact of exercise. This review describes the molecular targets for exercise mimetics and their effect on skeletal muscle and other tissues. We will also discuss the potential advantages of using natural products as a multi-targeting agent for mimicking the health-promoting effects of exercise.

• 운동영양학회지
• /
• 제23권3호
• /
• pp.45-49
• /
• 2019

[Purpose] Recent studies suggest that ursolic acid (UA) is a potential candidate for a resistance exercise mimetic that can increase muscle mass and alleviate the deleterious effect of skeletal muscle atrophy on bone health. However, these studies evaluated the effects of UA on skeletal muscle and bone tissues, and they have not verified whether such effect could occur concurrently on muscle and bone, as is the case with resistance exercise. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the effect of UA injection on muscle mass and bone microstructure using an animal model of atrophy to demonstrate the potential of UA as a resistance exercise mimetic. [Methods] The immobilization (IM) method was used on the left hindlimb of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats for 10 days to induce muscle atrophy, whereas the right hindlimb was used as an internal control (IC). The animal models were divided into two groups, SED (sedentary, n=6) and UA (n=6) to demonstrate the effect of UA on atrophic skeletal muscles. The UA group received a daily intraperitoneal injection of UA (5 mg/kg/day) for 8 weeks. After 10 days of IM, the data collected for the IC were compared with that of IM to determine whether muscle atrophy might occur. [Results] Muscle atrophy was induced and bone mineral density (BMD) decreased significantly. The 8-week UA treatment significantly increased the gastrocnemius muscle mass compared to the SED group. In regard to the effect of UA on bones, negative results such as a decrease in BMD, trabecular bone volume fraction, and trabecular number, and an increase in trabecular separation, were observed in the SED group, but no such difference was observed in the UA group. No significant difference was observed in atrophic hindlimbs between SED and UA groups. [Conclusion] These results alone are insufficient to suggest that UA is a potential resistance exercise mimetic for atrophic skeletal muscle and weakened bone. However, this study will help determine the potential of UA as a resistance exercise mimetic.