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A compound called peroxisome proliferator activated receptor–delta, or PPAR-delta, may mimic some of the effects of calorie restriction. In the body, PPAR-delta and related compounds handle cholesterol and fat and govern cells’ sensitivity to insulin.

Researchers took six middle-aged male monkeys with abnormally high concentrations of fatty acids in their blood. The animals also had abnormally low concentrations of high-density-lipoprotein-linked (HDL) cholesterol (good cholesterol). In monkeys and people, these conditions increase the risk of heart disease. The monkeys were also less sensitive to insulin than normal, an early sign of diabetes.

After 4 weeks on the PPAR-delta mimic, the monkeys had HDL cholesterol concentrations in their blood that were on average 79 percent higher than when they started. They also had fatty acid concentrations 56 percent below their initial concentrations, and the animals’ sensitivity to insulin increased over the course of the study. The agent had no apparent side effect, the research team reported.



Although the study is small, if it holds up in people, “the public health impact could be enormous,” says Andrezej Bartke of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. The new compound is already being tested in people, Hansen says.

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020202/note8.asp