Would you try taking an enzyme pill to improve your productivity instead of waking up early for a morning sweat session? We know that exercise improves cardiovascular health, memory, learning and cognition, but we don't fully understand the mechanisms that underlie brain benefits of exercise (Allendorfer, 2018). The National Institutes of Health is even funding a $170 million dollar initiative called the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium to answer these kinds of questions (Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans, n.d.). But is it possible that many of the cognitive benefits of exercise can be traced back to just one enzyme?
A study published in July in Science asked this very question (Horowitz et al. 2020). The researchers aimed to see whether blood transfusions could transfer the cognitive benefits of exercise to sedentary mice. To test their research question, they gave one group of mice wheels to run multiple miles a day on, and kept other mice relatively still. They gave the sedentary mice eight blood transfusions a week for three weeks from the active mice, and then tested them all memory and learning skills. They found that sedentary mice who received blood transfusions had double the number of neurons in the hippocampus as a control group, and performed similarly to the active mice on memory and learning tasks. The main blood composition difference between the two groups of mice was an enzyme called glycosylphosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase D1 (Gpld1). This was the likely agent for the cognitive benefits of exercise. To see if analogies could be drawn between mice and humans, they looked at the Fitbit activity of older adults and compared it to their blood Gpld1 concentration. They found that the most active adults had the highest concentration of Gpld1, suggesting that the enzyme might function similarly in humans.
Given the physiological relevance of Gpld1 to humans, there are some pretty cool clinical implications. Wouldn't it be incredible if fragile, elderly, or physically disabled patients could take this enzyme and improve brain function? Although Saul Villeda, the principle researcher of this study, cautions against getting too excited about "exercise in a bottle" anytime soon, he is enthusiastic that this research could become the basis for a new therapy for patients who cannot exercise (Scientists Discover Enzyme that could result in a Drug Substitute for Exercise, 2020).
References
Allendorfer, J. B., & Bamman, M. M. (2018) Getting the Brain into Shape: Exercise in Neurological Disorders. Clinical Therapeutics, 40(1), 6-7.
Horowitz A. M., Fan, X., Bieri, G., Smith, L. K., Sanchez-Diaz, C. I., Schroer, A. B., Gontier G., Casaletto, K. B., Kramer, J. H., Williams, K. E., & Villeda, S. A., (2020). Blood factors transfer beneficial effects of exervise on neurogenesis and cognition to the aged brain. Science, 369(6500),167-173.
Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity in Humans. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://commonfund.nih.gov/moleculartransducers
Scientists Discover Enzyme that Could Result in a Drug Substitute for Exercise. (July 9, 2020). NPR.Org. Retrieved September 24, 2020 from, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/09/889502165/scientists-discover-enzyme-that-could-result-in-a-drug-substitute-for-exercise
This is awesome! My answer to your first question was "yes". While I do greatly enjoy exercising, especially first thing in the morning, it would be amazing to be able to maintain the benefits while logging hours of studying and not actually be out exercising! Should research into Gpld1 continue I am curious if they would seek a synthetic form of the enzyme to market or would rely on a purification of the enzyme from blood samples of willing athletes (which seems taboo, but hey they do it with stem cells).
ReplyDeleteI could also see benefits of this in not only elderly, as you mentioned, but in individuals recovering from brain injury (i.e. TBI, stroke). I would imagine that, though a lot of the physiology is yet to be determined, Gpld1 could possibly expedite the healing process of someone having to learn to walk again or how to carry out their ADLs as they engage severely atrophied muscles. This is of course speculation, but I think this is very cool research.
I also found it interesting, in the Clinical Therapeutics article, about how dosing is taken into consideration. It's pretty fascinating to think that one day a prescription for an ailment could be a simple workout regiment like one would receive from a physical therapist or personal trainer to tackle anything from neurological disease to GI distress. The science behind dialing in a set amount of aerobic versus strength training is something that I would really like to learn more about, as I am anti-medication as much as possible. Keep it natural folks!
I am fascinated to see where all this research in GPLD1 could lead. The potential of enzyme center prescription could change the very way we look at medicine. Instead of curing diseases as they come, we would have the ability to cure disease before they occur. Although I am excited to see the development of GPLD1 and other enzyme treatments, I am hesitant that our understanding of the long term effects of long term exposure is lacking. Furthermore, I am curious how the cardiovascular health of rats in the Horowitz et al. 2020 study may be affected with a lack of exercise but increased levels of GPLD1.
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Horowitz, A. M., Fan, X., Bieri, G., Smith, L. K., Sanchez-Diaz, C. I., Schroer, A. B., Gontier, G., Casaletto, K. B., Kramer, J. H., Williams, K. E., & Villeda, S. A. (2020). Blood factors transfer beneficial effects of exercise on neurogenesis and cognition to the aged brain. Science (New York, N.Y.), 369(6500), 167–173. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1126/science.aaw2622
The concept of “exercise in a bottle” is very interesting! It would be great if elderly patients could utilize something like this to help prevent or slow a cognitive decline. I worked in an assisted living facility that was almost always understaffed, and the staff did not have the time to do activities with the residents to help improve their cognition. In situations like this and various other medical circumstances, being able to take an enzyme supplement could be extremely beneficial for many people.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that this relatively new concept can have some negative impacts. If this becomes available to the general population at some point, would we be encouraging people to live a sedentary lifestyle? If people can increase their cognitive ability without having to exercise, then many people would probably never exercise which would only contribute to the issue of obesity. Once more research into Gpld1 has been done I think a lot of thought needs to go into how this can impact the general population in a positive and negative away before it becomes available for people to purchase at their local GNC.