Skeletal muscle atrophy during short-term disuse: Implications for age-related sarcopenia.

Skeletal muscle atrophy during short-term disuse: Implications for age-related sarcopenia. Ageing Res Rev. 2013 Aug 12; Authors: Wall BT, Dirks ML, van Loon LJ Abstract Situations such as the recovery from injury and illness can lead to enforced periods of muscle disuse or unloading. Such circumstances lead to rapid skeletal muscle atrophy, loss of functional strength and a multitude of related negative health consequences. The elderly population is particularly vulnerable to the acute challenges of muscle disuse atrophy. Any loss of skeletal muscle mass must be underpinned by a chronic imbalance between muscle protein synthesis and breakdown rates. It is recognized that muscle atrophy during prolonged (>10 days) disuse is brought about primarily by declines in post-absorptive and post-prandial muscle protein synthesis rates, without a clear contribution from changes in muscle protein breakdown. Few data are available on the impact of short-term disuse (<10 days) on muscle protein turnover in humans. However, indirect evidence indicates that considerable muscle atrophy occurs during this early phase, and is likely attributed to a rapid increase in muscle protein breakdown accompanied by the characteristic decline in muscle protein synthesis. Short-term disuse atrophy is of particular relevance in the development of sarcopenia, as it has been suggested that successive short periods of muscle disuse, due to sickness or injury, accumulate t...
Source: Ageing Research Reviews - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Ageing Res Rev Source Type: research