Escuela Superior de Medicina del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Seccion de Posgrado, Mexico, DF, Mexico, CP 11340.
J Nutr Biochem. 2014 Jan;25(1):91-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2013.09.007. Epub 2013 Oct 18.
Sarcopenia is a notable and debilitating age-associated condition. Flavonoids are known for their healthy effects and limited toxicity. The flavanol (-)-epicatechin (Epi) enhances exercise capacity in mice, and Epi-rich cocoa improves skeletal muscle structure in heart failure patients. (-)-Epicatechin may thus hold promise as treatment for sarcopenia. We examined changes in protein levels of molecular modulators of growth and differentiation in young vs. old, human and mouse skeletal muscle. We report the effects of Epi in mice and the results of an initial proof-of-concept trial in humans, where muscle strength and levels of modulators of muscle growth were measured. In mice, myostatin and senescence-associated β-galactosidase levels increase with aging, while those of follistatin and Myf5 decrease. (-)-Epicatechin decreases myostatin and β-galactosidase and increases levels of markers of muscle growth. In humans, myostatin and β-galactosidase increase with aging while follistatin, MyoD and myogenin decrease. Treatment for 7 days with (-)-epicatechin increases hand grip strength and the ratio of plasma follistatin/myostatin. In conclusion, aging has deleterious effects on modulators of muscle growth/differentiation, and the consumption of modest amounts of the flavanol (-)-epicatechin can partially reverse these changes. This flavanol warrants its comprehensive evaluation for the treatment of sarcopenia.
肌肉减少症是一种显著且使人虚弱的与年龄相关的病症。类黄酮以其健康效应和有限的毒性而闻名。黄烷醇（-）-表儿茶素（Epi）可增强小鼠的运动能力，富含 Epi 的可可改善心力衰竭患者的骨骼肌结构。（-）-表儿茶素因此可能有希望成为肌肉减少症的治疗方法。我们研究了年轻和年老、人和小鼠骨骼肌中生长和分化的分子调节剂的蛋白质水平变化。我们报告了 Epi 在小鼠中的作用以及在人体初步概念验证试验的结果，其中测量了肌肉力量和肌肉生长调节剂的水平。在小鼠中，肌肉生长抑制素和衰老相关的β-半乳糖苷酶水平随年龄增长而增加，而卵泡抑素和 Myf5 的水平则下降。（-）-表儿茶素可降低肌肉生长抑制素和β-半乳糖苷酶水平，并增加肌肉生长标志物的水平。在人类中，肌肉生长抑制素和β-半乳糖苷酶随年龄增长而增加，而卵泡抑素、MyoD 和肌细胞生成素则减少。用（-）-表儿茶素治疗 7 天可增加手握力和血浆卵泡抑素/肌肉生长抑制素的比值。总之，衰老对肌肉生长/分化的调节剂有有害影响，而适量摄入黄烷醇（-）-表儿茶素可以部分逆转这些变化。这种黄烷醇值得全面评估用于治疗肌肉减少症。
