Abstract
Background: The loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) and the associated reduced muscle strength are key limiting factors for elderly people's quality of life. Improving muscle performance does not necessarily correlate with increasing muscle mass. In fact, particularly in the elderly, the main explanation for muscle weakness is a reduction of muscle quality rather than a loss of muscle mass, and the main goal to be achieved is to increase muscle strength. The effectiveness of Trimetazidine (TMZ) in preventing muscle functional impairment during ageing was assessed in our laboratory. Methods: Aged mice received TMZ or vehicle for 12 consecutive days. Muscle function was evaluated at the end of the treatment by a grip test as well as by an inverted screen test at 0, 5, 7 and 12 days of TMZ treatment. After sacrifice, muscles were stored for myofiber cross-sectional area assessment and myosin heavy chain expression evaluation by western blotting. Results: Chronic TMZ treatment does not affect the mass of both gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles, while it significantly increases muscle strength. Indeed, both latency to fall and grip force are markedly enhanced in TMZ-treated versus untreated mice. In addition, TMZ administration results in higher expression of slow myosin heavy chain isoform and increased number of small-sized myofibers. Conclusions: We report here some data showing that the modulation of skeletal muscle metabolism by TMZ increases muscle strength in aged mice. Reprogramming metabolism might therefore be a strategy worth to be further investigated in view of improving muscle performance in the elderly.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 2015 |
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Keywords
- Aging, Exercise pill
- Metabolic reprogramming
- Neuro-rehabilitation
- Sarcopenia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
- Physiology (medical)
Cite this
Improvement of skeletal muscle performance in ageing by the metabolic modulator Trimetazidine. / Ferraro, Elisabetta; Pin, Fabrizio; Gorini, Stefania; Pontecorvo, Laura; Ferri, Alberto; Mollace, Vincenzo; Costelli, Paola; Rosano, Giuseppe.
In: Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2015.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Improvement of skeletal muscle performance in ageing by the metabolic modulator Trimetazidine
AU - Ferraro, Elisabetta
AU - Pin, Fabrizio
AU - Gorini, Stefania
AU - Pontecorvo, Laura
AU - Ferri, Alberto
AU - Mollace, Vincenzo
AU - Costelli, Paola
AU - Rosano, Giuseppe
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Background: The loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) and the associated reduced muscle strength are key limiting factors for elderly people's quality of life. Improving muscle performance does not necessarily correlate with increasing muscle mass. In fact, particularly in the elderly, the main explanation for muscle weakness is a reduction of muscle quality rather than a loss of muscle mass, and the main goal to be achieved is to increase muscle strength. The effectiveness of Trimetazidine (TMZ) in preventing muscle functional impairment during ageing was assessed in our laboratory. Methods: Aged mice received TMZ or vehicle for 12 consecutive days. Muscle function was evaluated at the end of the treatment by a grip test as well as by an inverted screen test at 0, 5, 7 and 12 days of TMZ treatment. After sacrifice, muscles were stored for myofiber cross-sectional area assessment and myosin heavy chain expression evaluation by western blotting. Results: Chronic TMZ treatment does not affect the mass of both gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles, while it significantly increases muscle strength. Indeed, both latency to fall and grip force are markedly enhanced in TMZ-treated versus untreated mice. In addition, TMZ administration results in higher expression of slow myosin heavy chain isoform and increased number of small-sized myofibers. Conclusions: We report here some data showing that the modulation of skeletal muscle metabolism by TMZ increases muscle strength in aged mice. Reprogramming metabolism might therefore be a strategy worth to be further investigated in view of improving muscle performance in the elderly.
AB - Background: The loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) and the associated reduced muscle strength are key limiting factors for elderly people's quality of life. Improving muscle performance does not necessarily correlate with increasing muscle mass. In fact, particularly in the elderly, the main explanation for muscle weakness is a reduction of muscle quality rather than a loss of muscle mass, and the main goal to be achieved is to increase muscle strength. The effectiveness of Trimetazidine (TMZ) in preventing muscle functional impairment during ageing was assessed in our laboratory. Methods: Aged mice received TMZ or vehicle for 12 consecutive days. Muscle function was evaluated at the end of the treatment by a grip test as well as by an inverted screen test at 0, 5, 7 and 12 days of TMZ treatment. After sacrifice, muscles were stored for myofiber cross-sectional area assessment and myosin heavy chain expression evaluation by western blotting. Results: Chronic TMZ treatment does not affect the mass of both gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles, while it significantly increases muscle strength. Indeed, both latency to fall and grip force are markedly enhanced in TMZ-treated versus untreated mice. In addition, TMZ administration results in higher expression of slow myosin heavy chain isoform and increased number of small-sized myofibers. Conclusions: We report here some data showing that the modulation of skeletal muscle metabolism by TMZ increases muscle strength in aged mice. Reprogramming metabolism might therefore be a strategy worth to be further investigated in view of improving muscle performance in the elderly.
KW - Aging, Exercise pill
KW - Metabolic reprogramming
KW - Neuro-rehabilitation
KW - Sarcopenia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84953320859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84953320859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jcsm.12097
DO - 10.1002/jcsm.12097
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84953320859
JO - Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
JF - Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle
SN - 2190-5991
ER -