CLA May Protect Against Age-Related Muscle Loss
Lee Swanson Research Update
Supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) prevented muscle loss in mice. That's the report out of Texas in a study published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.
Mice receiving daily supplements of CLA showed higher muscle mass than control animals.
CLA is a fatty acid naturally present in ruminant meat and dairy products. Due to changes in the western diet, average intake of CLA has fallen. If the fat is removed from a dairy product to make a low-fat version that will be acceptable to consumers, CLA is removed along with it.
Researchers used a CLA derived from safflowers. It contained CLA isomers known as trans-10 cis-12 and cis-9 trans-11.
"The trans-10 cis-12 CLA isomer is the active component of the CLA-mix that exerts an anti-[muscle loss] effect seen in this study. However, the trans-10 cis-12 CLA isomer alone is known to have some adverse effects, such as, fatty liver formation, insulin resistance, etc., which can be corrected by combining with the cis-9 trans-11 CLA isomer, which is known to improve insulin sensitivity as well as fatty liver formation," wrote the researchers. "As CLA-mix also showed an equal efficacy as of trans-10 cis-12 CLA isomer alone, therefore, the CLA-mix could be an ideal dietary supplement to protect/delay age-associated skeletal muscle loss."
According to the research team, led by Gabriel Fernandes from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, humans typically lose between one and two percent of their muscle mass every year after the age of 50. "Such age-related loss of muscle mass has far reaching consequences for the elderly, including impaired physical function, increased risk of falls, fractures, dependency and death," they said.
Fernandes and his co-workers divided 12-month-old mice into four groups, one of which received a diet with 10% corn oil, while the others were supplemented with 0.5% of only cis-9 trans-11, only trans-10 cis-12, or a mix of both.
After six months the researchers noted that both the trans-10 cis-12 and CLA-mix showed "significantly higher muscle mass, as compared to corn oil and cis-9 trans-11 CLA groups."
Both groups also exhibited increased cellular energy production (ATP), as well as higher levels of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase in the muscles, compared to the corn oil and cis-9 trans-11 CLA groups.
"Thus, CLA may be a novel dietary supplement that will prevent [age-related muscle loss] by maintaining redox balance during ageing," concluded the researchers.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 383(4):513-518, 2009