Review Volume 12, Issue 23 pp 24441—24452
Caloric restriction: implications for sarcopenia and potential mechanisms
- 1 Deparment of Orthopedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 2 National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 3 Discipline Construction Office, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 4 School of Kinesiology, Jianghan University, Wuhan 430056, China
- 5 Department of Scientific Research, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410008, Hunan, China
- 6 Department of Geriatric Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu, China
Received: May 22, 2020 Accepted: August 14, 2020 Published: November 21, 2020
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.103987How to Cite
Copyright: © 2020 Xie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Sarcopenia is a potential risk factor for weakness, disability and death in elderly individuals. Therefore, seeking effective methods to delay and treat sarcopenia and to improve the quality of life of elderly individuals is a trending topic in geriatrics. Caloric restriction (CR) is currently recognized as an effective means to extend the lifespan and delay the decline in organ function caused by aging. In this review, we describe the effects of CR on improving muscle protein synthesis, delaying muscle atrophy, regulating muscle mitochondrial function, maintaining muscle strength, promoting muscle stem cell (MuSC) regeneration and differentiation, and thus protecting against sarcopenia. We also summarize the possible cellular mechanisms by which CR delays sarcopenia. CR can delay sarcopenia by reducing the generation of oxygen free radicals, reducing oxidative stress damage, enhancing mitochondrial function, improving protein homeostasis, reducing iron overload, increasing autophagy and apoptosis, and reducing inflammation. However, the relationships between CR and genetics, sex, animal strain, regimen duration and energy intake level are complex. Therefore, further study of the proper timing and application method of CR to prevent sarcopenia is highly important for the aging population.