PPARδ preserves a high resistance to fatigue in the mouse medial gastrocnemius after spinal cord transection.

Introduction: Skeletal muscle oxidative capacity decreases and fatigability increases after spinal cord injury. Transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) promotes a more oxidative phenotype.

Methods: We asked whether PPARδ overexpression could ameliorate these deficits in the medial gastrocnemius of spinal cord transected (ST) adult mice.

AMPK and PPARdelta agonists are exercise mimetics.

The benefits of endurance exercise on general health make it desirable to identify orally active agents that would mimic or potentiate the effects of exercise to treat metabolic diseases. Although certain natural compounds, such as reseveratrol, have endurance-enhancing activities, their exact metabolic targets remain elusive. We therefore tested the effect of pathway-specific drugs on endurance capacities of mice in a treadmill running test.