Myostatin is a natural protein produced within the body that inhibits muscle growth. Scientists have assumed that inhibition of myostatin may allow muscle to grow, which improve muscle mass and physical performance. Currently, an international research has proved the hypothesis, giving a promise to a myostatin antibody in treating the decline in muscle mass and power associated with aging.
In the research, patients, who were older than 75 with low muscle strength, low muscle performance and a history of falling, received injections of a myostatin antibody over a 24-week period. As a result, they got an increase in lean muscle mass and improved performance on tasks requiring muscle power.
Muscle power is the ability to generate muscle force quickly. In the process of aging, muscle power is lost more rapidly than muscle strength, leading to disability, falls, reduced quality of life and even death. The study is the first to demonstrate that myostatin antibody treatment improves performance on activities requiring muscle power.
Myostatin antibody treatment improved muscle power in elderly patients that they got improvements in the ability to climb stairs, walk briskly and rise repetitively from a chair. The treatment was particularly beneficial to those who were most frail at baseline, a population who may not be available to tradditional intervention.
The new research adds proof-of-concept evidence to the further studies that will reveal whether myostatin antibody treatment improves quality of life and reduces falls and their consequences in the process of aging.
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