As people age, muscle mass ages. This natural muscle aging results to overall weakness and difficulty of the muscle to restore itself from injury. This condition occurs when humans reach midlife. With age, this rate of decline continues faster. A recent study shows that people burn out their stem cells as they age, causing the decline in muscle quality.
Working on mice, researchers found that the stem cells of mice stopped working at 80 mouse years. In the same study, researchers discovered that muscle cell aging caused two kinds of protein to be overly active and dysfunctional.
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These researchers treated the affected muscle stem cells with a drug to block the hyperactivity of the two proteins. The excessive activity of the proteins was stopped, and the muscles began to behave ideally again. The revitalized stem cells were then transplanted to the muscles of injured mice. Significant improvements were noted in those mice compared to a group of mice which wasn’t given the rejuvenated stem cells.
This study will find relevant application in elderly humans recovering from surgeries and injuries involving muscle deterioration. One member of the research team, stem cell biologist Ben Cosgrove, says that the procedure involves transplanting of the rejuvenated stem cells to the affected muscle. It definitely needs further study, but it already shows promise in improving the conditions of patients recovering from injured or atrophied muscles. At this stage of the ongoing research, Cosgrove maintains that exercise is still the best therapy for restoring muscle health.