As an individual grows older, they experience continued loss of strength and skeletal muscle mass. Once an adult reaches 40, they start losing roughly 8% of their muscle mass every 10 years. By age 70, this often rises to 15% loss in muscle mass every 10 years.
Muscle loss, commonly referred to as sarcopenia, is linked to a heightened risk of disability and mortality in the elderly. It causes frailty, which significantly reduces an individual’s quality of life. While the main cause of sarcopenia isn’t known, researchers posit that mitochondrial dysfunction could help explain its development.
Prior studies have determined that changes in mitochondria function are observed before loss of muscle function and mass, suggesting that a drop in mitochondrial function accompanies the aging process of muscles.
Now new research carried out by investigators from Vanderbilt University has looked into how changes in the structure of mitochondria may contribute to the aging of muscles. For their research, the investigators used magnetic resonance imaging to observe skeletal muscles of two groups of individuals; one composed of those aged between 18 and 50 and the other made up of individuals above age fifty.
They observed that muscle volume dropped in relation to the bone area throughout aging in all genders.
Once this was done, they investigated mitochondrial protein expression in samples of skeletal muscles from both groups. From this, they observed that aging came with a reduction in mitochondrial fission and fusion proteins. These reductions, they explained, could impair the mitochondria’s dynamics and structure.
The researchers then used a serial block face–scanning electron microscope to reconstruct a 3D image of the mitochondria to make it easier to observe the structural changes. They found that mitochondria were more spherical and compact in older individuals but had an elongated structure in younger individuals.
While no differences in perimeter or surface area were observed in the skeletal muscles of both young and old individuals, the researchers did observe increased mitochondrial volume in the skeletal muscle of older individuals. This, they noted, could indicate swelling.
In their report, they explained that a drop in MFN2 protein levels was associated with structural changes in skeletal muscle mitochondria, contributing to muscle loss.
For companies like Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) that focus on coming up with biopharmaceutical solutions that enhance mitochondrial health, research findings of this nature present additional options that can be considered to realize company goals.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CLNN
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