If the thought of running on a treadmill makes you shudder , then you may soon have an excuse to avoid it altogether . US researchers claim they have found a hormone that mimics the effects of exercise , allowing people to lose weight and regulate their blood sugar . The hormone , dubbed MOTS-c , has been proven to work in mice and clinical trials on humans could begin in three years . US researchers claim they have found a hormone that mimics the effects of exercise , allowing people to lose weight and regulate their blood sugar . The hormone , dubbed MOTS-c , has been proven to work in mice and clinical trials on humans could begin in three years . The discovery of MOTS-c - a molecule that acts as a signal for the body - was made by scientists at the University of Southern California . MOTS-c works by increasing insulin sensitivity , allowing the body to more effectively process glucose sugars , researchers claim . Insulin is a hormone that moves the sugars from food into the blood stream . Resistance to insulin can be triggered by a poor diet and may lead to type 2 diabetes . The hormone mainly targets muscle tissue , where it restores insulin sensitivity , counteracting diet-induced and age-dependent insulin resistance . The hormone may give people yet another excuse to avoid the gym . But researchers say its real benefits are in tackling age-related diseases , such as diabetes . 'This represents a major advance in the identification of new treatments for age-related diseases such as diabetes , ' said Pinchas Cohen , a researcher at the University of Southern California . MOTS-c works by increasing insulin sensitivity , allowing the body to more effectively process glucose sugars , researchers claim . Insulin is a hormone that moves the sugars from food into the blood stream . Resistance to insulin can be triggered by a poor diet and may lead to type 2 diabetes . The hormone mainly targets muscle tissue , where it restores insulin sensitivity , counteracting diet-induced and age-dependent insulin resistance . To test the effects of MOTS-c , the team injected the hormone into mice fed a high-fat diet , which typically causes them to grow obese and develop a resistance to insulin . The injections not only suppressed both effects in mice , they also reversed age-dependent insulin-resistance , a condition that precedes diabetes . 'This discovery sheds new light on mitochondria and positions them as active regulators of metabolism , ' said Changhan Lee , assistant professor at USC Davis and lead author of the study . MOTS-c is unique among hormones in that it is encoded in the DNA of mitochondria - the 'powerhouses ' of cells that convert food into energy . Other hormones are encoded in DNA in the nucleus . While all of the experiments on MOTS-c to date have been performed on lab mice , the molecular mechanisms that make it work in mice exist in all mammals , including humans . The MOTS-c intellectual property has been licensed to a biotechnology company , and clinical trials in humans could begin within the next three years , researchers said .
The MOTS-c hormone has so far been proven to work in mice . In the new study, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the National Institute on Aging looked for a way to make this hormone more effective by adding it into human cells. It works by increasing insulin sensitivity which helps regulate blood sugar . It could lead to a pill that will tackle age-related diseases such as diabetes .