Keeping fit produces chemicals that purge the body of harmful substances – helping to boost mental health, researchers revealed last night.
Swedish researchers set out to discover how physical exercise could help relieve depression.
They expected to discover the production of chemicals that stimulate the brain.
Instead they found that exercise purges the blood of a substance that accumulates during stress and can harm the brain.
The study, involving laboratory mice, centred on a protein called PGC-lal, which increases in the muscles during exercise.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet say the finding, reported in the journal Cell, could open up whole new ways of treating depression.
Researcher Jorge Ruas said: "Our initial research hypothesis was that trained muscle would produce a substance with beneficial effects on the brain. We actually found the opposite: well-trained muscle produces an enzyme that purges the body of harmful substances.
“It’s possible that this work opens up a new pharmacological principle in the treatment of depression, where attempts could be made to influence skeletal muscle function instead of targeting the brain directly.
"Skeletal muscle appears to have a detoxification effect that, when activated, can protect the brain from insults and related mental illness."
Skeletal Muscle PGC-1a1 Modulates Kynurenine Metabolism and Mediates Resilience to Stress-Induced Depression Cell 25 September 2014
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