Uncovering the mechanisms through which krill oil increases muscle function in older adults

不幸的是，随着年龄的增长，我们会失去肌肉力量，这通常会导致老年人无法完成日常任务，例如从椅子上站起来或踏上公共汽车。这会导致生活质量下降，跌倒的风险增加，导致住院治疗。低肌肉力量也是许多疾病的风险因素，如糖尿病，癌症和心血管疾病，并使任何疾病的恢复较慢。这些负面后果转化为巨大的经济成本，2016年的最新研究显示，英国肌肉无力的过度健康和社会护理成本为25亿英镑/年。目前，我们没有任何药物可以有效地逆转肌肉无力，虽然阻力（举重）运动有效，但很少有人这样做，停止训练后，任何收益都很容易丢失。令人兴奋的是，在一项约100人的研究中，我们最近发现，磷虾（小甲壳类动物）油补充6个月可使肌肉力量增加10%，相当于55至65岁的肌肉力量损失。虽然这是令人兴奋的，但我们需要了解这些影响的机制，以优化治疗。我们的数据表明，力量的增加可能是由于从大脑到肌肉的信号通过神经更有效地传输，但具体在哪里尚不清楚。此外，我们需要调查肌肉力量和质量的增加是否会改善老年人的日常活动，如步行和从椅子上站起来。因此，目前研究的目的是确定磷虾油补充剂增加肌肉力量的机制，并确定它是否会改善日常活动。在拟议的研究中，我们将招募80名老年人，用安慰剂或磷虾油补充他们6个月，并比较其对肌肉大小和力量，大脑-神经-肌肉相互作用及其对日常活动的影响。总之，这一系列实验将全面了解磷虾油补充剂对肌肉功能和日常活动表现的影响，并深入描述这些影响的机制。这些信息对于优化预防和/或治疗与年龄相关的肌肉功能下降的策略至关重要。

As we age, unfortunately, we lose muscle strength and this frequently results in older people not being able to carry out everyday tasks, such as getting up from a chair or stepping on to a bus. This results in a reduced quality of life and an increased risk of having a fall that can result in hospitalisation. Low muscle strength is also a risk factor for many conditions such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease and makes recovery from any illness slower. These negative consequences translate to large economic costs with the most recent study in 2016 showing that the excess health and social care cost of muscle weakness in the UK was £2.5 billion/year. Currently we do not have any medicines that are effective in reversing muscle weakness and although resistance (weightlifting) exercise works, very few people do this, and any gains are readily lost after stopping training. Excitingly, in a study of around 100 people, we have recently shown that krill (small crustaceans) oil supplementation for 6 months results in a 10% increase in muscle strength, equivalent to the loss of muscle strength seen from 55 to 65 years of age. Whilst this is exciting, we need to understand the mechanisms underlying these effects to optimise treatment. Our data indicates that the increases in strength may be due to more effective transmission of the signal from the brain to the muscle, via the nerves, but exactly where is not clear. Furthermore, we need to investigate whether the increases in muscle strength and mass result in improvements in how older people perform daily activities like walking and getting up from a chair. The aim of the current study, therefore, is to determine the mechanisms via which krill oil supplementation increases muscle strength, and to determine whether it results in improvements in daily activities. In the proposed study we will recruit 80 older adults and supplement them for 6 months with placebo or krill oil and compare the effects of this on muscle size and strength, the brain-nerve-muscle interactions and its effects on daily activities. Together, this series of experiments will provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects of krill oil supplementation on muscle function, performance of daily activities and provide an in-depth characterisation of the mechanisms underlying these effects. Such information is crucial to optimise strategies to prevent and/or treat the age-related decline in muscle function.