--- title: "Scientists Intrigued by Drug That Mimics the Effects of Exercise in Mice" description: "Scientists believe they have developed a drug that can trick the body into thinking it has exercised — but as always, there are caveats. " date: "2023-09-27" modified: "2023-09-27" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/exercise-exercise-drug-mice" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "RX and Medicine" tags: - "exercise" - "exercise pill" - "metabolism" - "Weight Loss" --- # Scientists Intrigued by Drug That Mimics the Effects of Exercise in Mice ![Scientists believe they have developed a drug that can trick the body into thinking it has exercised — but as always, there are caveats. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Scientists are intrigued by a drug that appears to imbue mice with the benefits of exercise without actually getting physical activity — but as you'd imagine, there are caveats, so don't throw out your workout clothes just yet. As a [University of Florida press release]() about the new research declares, the newly-developed compound SLU-PP-332 led obese mice to lose weight by apparently convincing their bodies to go into marathon training mode, leading to a faster metabolism and more energy and endurance, and all without actually exercising. "This compound is basically telling skeletal muscle to make the same changes you see during endurance training," Thomas Burris, a UF pharmacy professor who led the research, said in the school's press release. SLU-PP-332 purports to achieve this by targeting what are known as EFF proteins that activate the body's most "energy-gobbling" tissues, such as the brain, the heart, and other muscles. ERRs are naturally released during exercise, but until now, have proven elusive to stimulate with drugs. Along with researchers out of Washington University in St. Louis and St. Louis University, Burris [published his findings]() last week in the *Jo**urnal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics*, building on the team's [previous work designing the compound](). "When you treat mice with the drug," Burris said, "you can see that their whole body metabolism turns to using fatty acids, which is very similar to what people use when they are fasting or exercising." As a result, "the animals start losing weight," the researcher said. Of course, mice aren't people, so we have no idea how the drug would affect people. And previous research into similar potential treatments hasn't turned out with inspiring results. Known as "exercise mimetics," this class of drug has, in spite of some [recent studies]() into their benefits, long been shunted to the world of [purportedly]() [miraculous]() — and [non-FDA-approved]() — weight loss and workout endurance drugs that promise users the benefits of exercise without the work. As recently as 2018, when researchers presented a [review of so-called exercise mimetics]() at a physiology conference, critical scientists argued that "terminology to describe the effect of any oral compound that purports to have 'exercise-like' properties should be focused on the narrow range of biological pathway(s) activated by any given agent, so that the specificity and limited response to that drug are accurately defined" — though of course, "SLU-PP-32" or "EFF agonist" don't have quite the same ring to them as "[exercise in a pill]()." SLU-PP-332 does, to its benefit, appear to be different from its predecessors in the proteins it targets, and may well prove to be more beneficial because of it, especially given that in mice studies, researchers found no severe side effects. Like Ozempic, Moujnaro, and Wegovy, which the paper curiously cites by name as game-changers in obesity treatment that spurred on "a surge of interest, research, and funding for drugs that could treat these metabolic diseases through different biological pathways," this potential exercise mimetic could, as UF's Burris suggests, "keep people healthier as they age." But it could also, as further research in both mice and humans commences, prove to be more snake oil. **More on weight loss "cures":** [*Sites Spring Up to Sell Semaglutide for Cheap With No Prescription*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()