Elamipretide Increases Mitochondrial Production of ATP for a Short Time After Administration

Stealth BioTherapeutics develops elamipretide, a mitochondrially targeted peptide that appears to improve mitochondrial function in older individuals. Mitochondria are the power plants of the cell, producing the chemical energy store molecule ATP to power cellular operations. Mitochondria falter with age, however, negatively affecting tissue function throughout the body. Here, researchers note a short term gain in ATP production following elamipretide infusion. The results in detail make it clear that individual responses are highly variable, but the average settles down to a statistically significant 27% gain. Like other present approaches to improving mitochondrial function (e.g. various forms of NAD+ upregulation), demonstrating improved tissue function as a result of biochemical differences of this nature remains a challenge. Muscle function did not show compelling improvement in this study. Loss of mitochondrial function contributes to fatigue, exercise intolerance, and muscle weakness, and is a key factor in the disability that develops with age and a wide variety of chronic disorders. Here, we describe the impact of a first-in-class cardiolipin-binding compound that is targeted to mitochondria and improves oxidative phosphorylation capacity (Elamipretide, ELAM) in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Non-invasive magnetic resonance and optical spectroscopy provided measures of mitochondrial capacity (ATPmax) with exercis...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs