TY - JOUR
T1 - Lifelong physical exercise delays age-associated skeletal muscle decline
AU - Zampieri, S.
AU - Pietrangelo, L.
AU - Loefler, S.
AU - Fruhmann, H.
AU - Vogelauer, M.
AU - Burggraf, S.
AU - Pond, A.
AU - Grim-Stieger, M.
AU - Cvecka, J.
AU - Sedliak, M.
AU - Tirpáková, V.
AU - Mayr, W.
AU - Sarabon, N.
AU - Rossini, K.
AU - Barberi, L.
AU - De Rossi, M.
AU - Romanello, V.
AU - Boncompagni, S.
AU - Musarò, A.
AU - Sandri, M.
AU - Protasi, F.
AU - Carraro, U.
AU - Kern, H.
PY - 2015/2/1
Y1 - 2015/2/1
N2 - Aging is usually accompanied by a significant reduction in muscle mass and force. To determine the relative contribution of inactivity and aging per se to this decay, we compared muscle function and structure in (a) male participants belonging to a group of well-trained seniors (average of 70 years) who exercised regularly in their previous 30 years and (b) age-matched healthy sedentary seniors with (c) active young men (average of 27 years). The results collected show that relative to their sedentary cohorts, muscle from senior sportsmen have: (a) greater maximal isometric force and function, (b) better preserved fiber morphology and ultrastructure of intracellular organelles involved in Ca2+ handling and ATP production, (c) preserved muscle fibers size resulting from fiber rescue by reinnervation, and (d) lowered expression of genes related to autophagy and reactive oxygen species detoxification. All together, our results indicate that: (a) skeletal muscle of senior sportsmen is actually more similar to that of adults than to that of age-matched sedentaries and (b) signaling pathways controlling muscle mass and metabolism are differently modulated in senior sportsmen to guarantee maintenance of skeletal muscle structure, function, bioenergetic characteristics, and phenotype. Thus, regular physical activity is a good strategy to attenuate age-related general decay of muscle structure and function (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01679977).
AB - Aging is usually accompanied by a significant reduction in muscle mass and force. To determine the relative contribution of inactivity and aging per se to this decay, we compared muscle function and structure in (a) male participants belonging to a group of well-trained seniors (average of 70 years) who exercised regularly in their previous 30 years and (b) age-matched healthy sedentary seniors with (c) active young men (average of 27 years). The results collected show that relative to their sedentary cohorts, muscle from senior sportsmen have: (a) greater maximal isometric force and function, (b) better preserved fiber morphology and ultrastructure of intracellular organelles involved in Ca2+ handling and ATP production, (c) preserved muscle fibers size resulting from fiber rescue by reinnervation, and (d) lowered expression of genes related to autophagy and reactive oxygen species detoxification. All together, our results indicate that: (a) skeletal muscle of senior sportsmen is actually more similar to that of adults than to that of age-matched sedentaries and (b) signaling pathways controlling muscle mass and metabolism are differently modulated in senior sportsmen to guarantee maintenance of skeletal muscle structure, function, bioenergetic characteristics, and phenotype. Thus, regular physical activity is a good strategy to attenuate age-related general decay of muscle structure and function (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01679977).
KW - Calcium release unit
KW - Force
KW - Human skeletal muscle
KW - Physical exercise
KW - Signaling pathways
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U2 - 10.1093/gerona/glu006
DO - 10.1093/gerona/glu006
M3 - Article
C2 - 24550352
AN - SCOPUS:84904674407
VL - 70
SP - 163
EP - 173
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
SN - 1079-5006
IS - 2
ER -