BACKGROUND Muscle weakness is associated with a variety of chronic disorders such as emphysema (EMP) and congestive heart failure (CHF) as well as aging. Therapies to treat muscle weakness associated with chronic disease or aging are lacking. Corticotrophin releasing factor 2 receptor (CRF2R) agonists have been shown to maintain skeletal muscle mass and force production in a variety of acute co...

Although it is well established that chronic hypoxia leads to an inexorable loss of skeletal muscle mass in healthy subjects, the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in this process are currently unknown. Skeletal muscle atrophy is also an important systemic consequence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the role of hypoxemia in this regulation is still debated. Our gener...

AND HYPERTROPHY OF SKELETAL BUT NOT CARDIAC MUSCLE *Qiao, C; *Li, J; *Zhu, T; *Wang, B; *Chen, C; *O’Day, T; *Watchko, J; *Li, J; +*Xiao,X + University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA [email protected] INTRODUCTION Myostatin was discovered as a new member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily (1). Myostatin-deficient mice (1) and cattle (2) have shown to have a large increase in sk...

OBJECTIVES We sought to assess whether skeletal muscle mass might be a predictor of peak oxygen consumption (Vo2) and relation of the ventilation to carbon dioxide production (VE/VCo2) slope in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) independent of clinical conditions, neurohormonal activation and resting hemodynamics. BACKGROUND A variety of abnormalities characterize skeletal muscle and c...

Skeletal muscle atrophy is a common and debilitating condition that remains poorly understood at the molecular level. To better understand the mechanisms of muscle atrophy, we used mouse models to search for a skeletal muscle protein that helps to maintain muscle mass and is specifically lost during muscle atrophy. We discovered that diverse causes of muscle atrophy (limb immobilization, fastin...

A variety of changes in skeletal muscle occur with aging. Sarcopenia is the age-associated loss of muscle mass and is one of the main contributors to musculoskeletal impairments in the elderly. Traditional definitions of sarcopenia focused on the size of human skeletal muscle. However, increasing evidence in older adults suggests that low muscle mass is associated with weakness, and weakness is...

OBJECTIVE A loss of skeletal muscle mass is frequently observed in older adults. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of type 2 diabetes on the changes in body composition, with particular interest in the skeletal muscle mass. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We examined total body composition with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry annually for 6 years in 2,675 older adults. We also m...

OBJECTIVES It has been reported that low skeletal muscle mass correlates with knee osteoarthritis in obese individuals. This study aimed to investigate whether lower limb skeletal muscle mass is independently associated with knee osteoarthritis in the general population. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study used public data from the Fourth and Fifth Korean National Health and Nutr...

The world population is ageing rapidly. As society ages, the incidence of physical limitations is dramatically increasing, which reduces the quality of life and increases healthcare expenditures. In western society, ~30% of the population over 55 years is confronted with moderate or severe physical limitations. These physical limitations increase the risk of falls, institutionalization, co-morb...