Key molecule released during exercise strengthens muscles

Scientists have discovered that a key molecule released during exercise strengthens muscles, improves exercise performance and could be a therapeutic treatment for muscle damage caused by type 2 diabetes.

Research has revealed that the molecule L-β-aminoisobutyric acid (L-BAIBA) is required for muscle to adapt to exercise, making it stronger and protecting against damage and weakness.

The study, which is published today (18 August) in Nature Communications and funded by Diabetes UK and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBRSC) identifies that L-BAIBA is a central regulator of how muscles remodel, strengthen, and improve their endurance in response to exercise training.

How exercise impacts on the body's ability to respond to challenges is not fully understood. Given the health benefits of exercise, the research team, led by Professor Lee Roberts at the University of Leeds, set out to discover whether this mechanism could hold the potential for treatment for chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

L-BAIBA has been studied in the past and Professor Roberts carried out research in 2014 which showed that it had beneficial effects on metabolism, boosting the fat-burning effects of exercise. It can now be purchased as a nutritional supplement.

His most recent study found that it also triggers muscles to respond and change, linking exercise to beneficial alternations in muscle structure and metabolism.

Our research identifies L-BAIBA as an exercise-induced signal that helps muscles adapt, improve their metabolic capacity and ability to contract, and ultimately enhances physical performance.

This gives us exciting new insight into how exercise benefits the body and highlights a promising target for future therapies aimed at preserving muscle function in chronic conditions such as diabetes."

Lee Roberts, Professor of Molecular Physiology and Metabolism, University of Leeds

L-BAIBA also protects muscle from damage that occurs in type 2 diabetes which can limit a person's quality of life, such as loss of muscle and strength, and impaired metabolism. Improving muscle resistance to fatigue could be transformative, as exercise can help to manage diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition which can lead to complications such as heart attacks and strokes. The reasons why type 2 diabetes develops are complex. Risk factors include age, ethnicity, genetics and living with obesity or overweight. Type 2 diabetes has historically been associated with older people, but cases among under-40s have been rising in recent years and are now increasing at a faster rate than among people over 40.

Anna Morris, Assistant Director of Research Strategy and Partnership at Diabetes UK, said: "Exercise plays an important role in managing type 2 diabetes, but for many people muscle weakness and fatigue can make staying active a real challenge. This research helps us better understand how muscles adapt to exercise and identifies a potential new target for improving muscle health. While these findings are still at an early stage, they could help shape future approaches that support people with type 2 diabetes to remain active and live healthier, longer lives."