As we age, our muscle mass decreases. This decline then accelerates over the decades: this is called sarcopenia. It is the latter which is at the origin of the loss of autonomy, the increase in falls or the development of certain diseases such as osteoporosis. What if a miracle product made it possible to stop sarcopenia in an elderly person and to regenerate their muscles? Researchers from Inserm and the University of Toulouse have perhaps just found it under the name of “apeline”. Their work has been published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Apeline is a hormone secreted by our muscles during physical exercise. It would improve muscle capacity. However, its production decreases with age. The researchers therefore administered apelin in elderly mice and the finding is clear: their muscle fibers were restored and their muscle capacity strengthened thanks to the stimulation of cell metabolism.
Apeline does not work on young people!
Thus, scientists are considering apelin as a means of diagnosing sarcopenia earlier, but also as a treatment for the latter. The authors of the study, however, want to be clear: the apelin does not allow doping. Indeed, it has no effectiveness on young mice who are already producing enough, so adding more does not change anything.
By the end of 2019, trials in the elderly will be carried out. According to Science and the Future, the researchers are already working with a pharmaceutical laboratory to develop a product that is easier to use than an injection.
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