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Exercise in a Pill? Muscle Growth Breakthrough
1 Oct
Summary
- Pill mimics exercise effects to boost leg muscle by 13%.
- It stimulates fat burning while preserving lean muscle mass.
- Potential to minimize muscle wastage from weight loss jabs.
A new pill, ATR-258, developed by Swedish biotech firm Atrogi, has demonstrated a 13% increase in leg muscle strength and power over an eight-week trial. This innovative drug mimics the metabolic effects of exercise on skeletal muscles, which constitute about 40% of body mass.
The pill stimulates metabolism, promotes fat burning, and crucially, helps preserve or build lean muscle mass during weight loss. This is particularly significant as it offers a potential solution to muscle wastage experienced by users of popular weight loss injections.
In a human trial with 13 overweight or obese subjects, ATR-258 was well tolerated, resulting in an average fat mass reduction of 1.1kg and a lean mass increase of 0.8kg. Experts are hopeful that larger trials will confirm these findings, paving the way for its use alongside fat-burning jabs.
Weight loss injections, while effective for fat reduction, have been criticized for causing substantial muscle mass loss, sometimes up to 45% of total weight lost. This can lead to frailty and make future weight loss more difficult. ATR-258's mechanism, which involves binding to beta-2 adrenergic receptors, could counteract this effect.
Beyond preventing muscle wastage during weight loss, Atrogi believes the pill's mechanism warrants investigation for conditions like sarcopenia, characterized by substantial muscle loss and weakness. Future research will focus on larger clinical trials to further validate the drug's efficacy and safety.
