Muscle-Specific PPAR [Formula: see text] Agonism May Provide Synergistic Benefits with Life Style Modifications

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor [Formula: see text] (PPAR [Formula: see text]) has emerged as a powerful metabolic regulator in diverse tissues including fat, skeletal muscle, and the heart. It is now established that activation of PPAR [Formula: see text] promotes fatty acid oxidation in several tissues, such as skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. In muscle, PPAR [Formula: see text] appears to act as a central regulator of fatty acid catabolism. PPAR [Formula: see text] contents are increased in muscle during physiological situations such as physical exercise or long-term fasting, characterized by increased fatty acid oxidation. Targeted expression of an activated form of PPAR [Formula: see text] in skeletal muscle induces a switch to form increased numbers of type I muscle fibers resembling the fiber type transition by endurance training. Activation of PPAR [Formula: see text] also enhances mitochondrial capacity and fat oxidation in the skeletal muscle that resembles the effect of regular exercise. Therefore, it is hypothesized that muscle-specific PPAR [Formula: see text] agonists could be a key strategy to support the poor cardiorespiratory fitness associated with metabolic disorders.