Best drunk separately
“Sarcopenia is considered the main causative factor of the physical performance decline in the elderly,” said Dr. Jordi Calderó from the Universitat de Lleida and Institut de Recerca Biomèdica de Lleida and his colleagues.
“The
compromised muscular function associated to sarcopenia has a negative impact on
the life quality of older adults and increases the risk for adverse health
outcomes including disability, fall-associated injuries, morbidity, and
mortality.”
“All these aspects stress healthcare systems, increasing the care needs of older people and their costs.”
“With
a prevalence of 8-40% in people over 60 years, sarcopenia constitutes a
critical challenge in our aging society.”
“Starting
in the third decade of life, humans experience a gradual deterioration of
muscle power, and over the age of 60 a decline of about 3% of muscle mass per
year has been reported to occur in most of individuals.”
“Different
mechanisms have been identified to contribute to the loss of muscle mass with
age,” they said.
“In
fact, sarcopenia in the elderly is presently considered a complex
multifactorial condition which involves intrinsic and extrinsic causative
factors; among of them: chronic inflammation, metabolic and endocrine
alterations, poor nutrition, mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative damage, and
neurogenic factors, appear to play an important role in sarcopenia.”
To
evaluate nutritional ingredients that can mitigate progression of sarcopenia,
the researchers tested the effects of two-flavonoid enriched plant
extracts: green tea catechins or cocoa flavanols.
“We
examined the impact of two flavonoid-enriched diets containing either green tea
extract (GTE) catechins or cocoa flavanols on age-associated regressive changes
in the neuromuscular system of mice,” they explained.
Compared
to control mice, GTE- and cocoa-supplementation significantly improved the
survival rate of mice, reduced the proportion of fibers with lipofuscin aggregates and central nuclei, and increased
the density of satellite cells in skeletal muscles.
Additionally,
both supplements significantly augmented the number of innervated neuromuscular
junctions and their degree of maturity compared to controls.
GTE,
but not cocoa, prominently increased the density of VAChT and VGluT2 afferent synapses on motoneurons, which were lost
in control aged spinal cords.
Conversely,
cocoa, but not GTE, significantly augmented the proportion of VGluT1 afferent
synapses on aged motoneurons.
Moreover,
GTE, but not cocoa, reduced aging-associated microgliosis and
increased the proportion of neuroprotective microglial phenotypes.
“Our
data indicate that certain plant flavonoids may be beneficial in the
nutritional management of age-related deterioration of the neuromuscular
system,” the scientists said.
“Future
research is needed to investigate whether higher doses of flavonoid are needed
and/or longer-term interventions can help restore proper motor function.”
The new results are
published in the journal Aging.
_____
S.
Gras et al. 2021. Beneficial effects of dietary supplementation
with green tea catechins and cocoa flavanols on aging-related regressive
changes in the mouse neuromuscular system. Aging 13
(14):18051-18093; doi: 10.18632/aging.203336
