Regular physical activity is effective as prevention and treatment for different chronic conditions related to the ageing processes. In fact, a sedentary lifestyle has been linked to a worsening of cellular ageing biomarkers such as telomere length (TL) and/or specific epigenetic changes (e.g. DNA methylation), with increase of the propensity to aging-related diseases and premature death.Extending our previous findings, we aimed to test the hypothesis that 12 weeks of low frequency, moderate intensity, explosive-type resistance training (EMRT) may attenuate age-associated genomic changes. To this aim, TL, global DNA methylation, TRF2, Ku80, SIRT1, SIRT2 and global protein acetylation, as well as other proteins involved in apoptotic pathway (Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3), antioxidant response (TrxR1 and MnSOD) and oxidative damage (myeloperoxidase) were evaluated before and after EMRT in whole blood or peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of elderly subjects.Our findings confirm the potential of EMRT to induce an adaptive change in the antioxidant protein systems at systemic level and suggest a putative role of resistance training in the reduction of global DNA methylation. Moreover, we observed that EMRT counteracts the telomeres’ shortening in a manner that proved to be directly correlated with the amelioration of redox homeostasis and efficacy of training regime, evaluated as improvement of both muscle's power/strength and functional parameters.

Previous studies have shown a significant increase in the mitochondrial generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and other peroxides in recently denervated muscle fibers. The mechanisms for generation of these peroxides and how the muscle responds to these peroxides are not fully established. The aim of this work was to determine the effect of denervation on the muscle content of proteins that may contribute to mitochondrial peroxide release and the muscle responses to this generation. Denervation of the tibialis anterior (TA) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles in mice was achieved by surgical removal of a small section of the peroneal nerve prior to its entry into the muscle. An increase in mitochondrial peroxide generation has been observed from 7 days and sustained up to 21 days following denervation in the TA muscle fibers. This increased peroxide generation was reduced by incubation of skinned fibers with inhibitors of monoamine oxidases, NADPH oxidases or phospholipase A2 enzymes and the muscle content of these enzymes together with peroxiredoxin 6 were increased following denervation. Denervated muscle also showed significant adaptations in the content of several enzymes involved in the protection of cells against oxidative damage. Morphological analyses indicated a progressive significant loss of muscle mass in the TA muscle from 7 days up to 21 days following denervation due to fiber atrophy but without fiber loss. These results support the possibility that, at least initially, the increase in peroxide production may stimulate adaptations in an attempt to protect the muscle fibers, but that these processes are insufficient and the increased peroxide generation over the longer term may activate degenerative and atrophic processes in the denervated muscle fibers.

Skeletal muscle wasting represents a common trait in many conditions, including aging, cancer, heart failure, immobilization, and critical illness. Loss of muscle mass leads to impaired functional mobility and severely impedes the quality of life. At present, exercise training remains the only proven treatment for muscle atrophy, yet many patients are too ill, frail, bedridden, or neurologically impaired to perform physical exertion. The development of novel therapeutic strategies that can be applied to an in vivo context and attenuate secondary myopathies represents an unmet medical need. This review discusses recent progress in understanding the molecular pathways involved in regulating skeletal muscle wasting with a focus on pro-catabolic factors, in particular, the ubiquitin-proteasome system and its activating muscle-specific E3 ligase RING-finger protein 1 (MuRF1). Mechanistic progress has provided the opportunity to design experimental therapeutic concepts that may affect the ubiquitin-proteasome system and prevent subsequent muscle wasting, with novel advances made in regards to nutritional supplements, nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NFκB) inhibitors, myostatin antibodies, β2 adrenergic agonists, and small-molecules interfering with MuRF1, which all emerge as a novel in vivo treatment strategies for muscle wasting.

Two highly prevalent and growing global diseases impacted by skeletal muscle atrophy are chronic heart failure (HF) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The presence of either condition increases the likelihood of developing the other, with recent studies revealing a large and relatively poorly characterized clinical population of patients with coexistent HF and DM (HFDM). HFDM results in worse symptoms and poorer clinical outcomes compared with DM or HF alone, and cardiovascular‐focused disease‐modifying agents have proven less effective in HFDM indicating a key role of the periphery. This review combines current clinical knowledge and basic biological mechanisms to address the critical emergence of skeletal muscle atrophy in patients with HFDM as a key driver of symptoms. We discuss how the degree of skeletal muscle wasting in patients with HFDM is likely underpinned by a variety of mechanisms that include mitochondrial dysfunction, insulin resistance, inflammation, and lipotoxicity. Given many atrophic triggers (e.g. ubiquitin proteasome/autophagy/calpain activity and supressed IGF1‐Akt‐mTORC1 signalling) are linked to increased production of reactive oxygen species, we speculate that a higher pro‐oxidative state in HFDM could be a unifying mechanism that promotes accelerated fibre atrophy. Overall, our proposal is that patients with HFDM represent a unique clinical population, prompting a review of treatment strategies including further focus on elucidating potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets of muscle atrophy in these distinct patients.

Lactation‐induced bone loss occurs due to high calcium requirements for fetal growth but skeletal recovery is normally achieved promptly postweaning. Dietary protein is vital for fetus and mother but the effects of protein undernutrition on the maternal skeleton and skeletal muscles are largely unknown. We used mouse dams fed with normal (N, 20%) or low (L, 8%) protein diet during gestation and lactation and maintained on the same diets (NN, LL) or switched from low to normal (LN) during a 28 d skeletal restoration period post lactation. Skeletal muscle morphology and neuromuscular junction integrity was not different between any of the groups. However, dams fed the low protein diet showed extensive bone loss by the end of lactation, followed by full skeletal recovery in NN dams, partial recovery in LN and poor bone recovery in LL dams. Primary osteoblasts from low protein diet fed mice showed decreased in vitro bone formation and decreased osteogenic marker gene expression; promoter methylation analysis by pyrosequencing showed no differences in Bmpr1a, Ptch1, Sirt1, Osx, and Igf1r osteoregulators, while miR‐26a, ‐34a, and ‐125b expression was found altered in low protein fed mice. Therefore, normal protein diet is indispensable for maternal musculoskeletal health during the reproductive period.

Lactation-induced bone loss occurs due to high calcium requirements for fetal growth but skeletal recovery is normally achieved promptly post-weaning. Dietary protein is vital for fetus and mother but the effects of protein undernutrition on the maternal skeleton and skeletal muscles is largely unknown. We used mouse dams fed with normal (N, 20%) or low (L, 8%) protein diet during gestation and lactation and maintained on the same diets (NN, LL) or switched from low to normal (LN) during a 28d skeletal restoration period post lactation. Skeletal muscle morphology and neuromuscular junction integrity was not different between any of the groups. However, dams fed the low protein diet showed extensive bone loss by the end of lactation, followed by full skeletal recovery in NN dams, partial recovery in LN and poor bone recovery in LL dams. Primary osteoblasts from low protein diet fed mice showed decreased in vitro bone formation and decreased osteogenic marker gene expression; promoter methylation analysis by pyrosequencing showed no differences in Bmpr1a, Ptch1, Sirt1, Osx and Igf1r osteoregulators, while miR-26a, -34a and -125b expression was found altered in low protein fed mice. Therefore, normal protein diet is indispensable for maternal musculoskeletal health during the reproductive period.

Despite COVID-19 outbreak, the program of the 2022 Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (PDM3) was confirmed On-site in February from March 30 to April 2, 2022 to be held at the University of Padua Aula Magna and at Conference Hall of the Hotel Petrarca of Thermae of Euganean Hills (Padua), Italy. Over 130 abstracts, including the last-minute submissions listed below, convinced organizers to extend the program to five days. The sponsorship of the University of Florida and the willingness of attendees to meet friends after two years of virtual conferences were the keys of success, despite concerns for current events in East Europe. Only fourteen Virtual presentations were in the final program, eight due to last-minute Coronavirus infections and six for East Europe problems. The first two days of the programincluded scientists and clinicians of the University of Florida, USA and their invitees from Canada, France, Italy, Swiden, Swiss, UK and USA. Researchers and clinicians from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, UK and USA filled the program of last three days more oriented to aging and rehabilitation. The large majority of abstracts was e-published before the meeting; here are last-minute abstracts and the final program. The program of the 2023 On-site PDM3 was informally designed during the Meeting, but will be circulated during 2022 summer. Fix the dates in your agenda from Thursday March 28 to Friday March 31. For now, please, submit Communications to the European Journal of Translational Myology, PAGEpress, Pavia, Italy and Original Articles or Reviews to the Journal Diagnostics, MDPI, Basel, Swiss. Both journals will host Special PDM3 Sections and will apply 50% discount on editorial processing fees to the first 15 accepted typescripts.

Muscle tissue plays several important health functions . In addition to the important mechanical functions, it represents the biggest reserve of body proteins and it is also able to produce several myokines that are able to induce important beneficial effects, through the interaction with different organs. The loss of muscle mass has a tremendous impact on health and it is not surprising that a great interest has raised on two degenerative, irreversible and unstoppable conditions known as sarcopenia and cachexia. Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, is not a disease or a syndrome, it is not even a medical sign sometimes. Indeed, a general consensus among scientists does not exist regarding the definition and the identification criteria of this condition. On the other hand, cachexia is a wasting syndrome characterized by an uncontrolled and unstoppable loss of muscle mass, associated with fatigue and weakness. It is often associated with a disease like cancer, AIDS, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), multiple sclerosis, tuberculosis etc. Given the complexity of these muscle conditions and considering that during aging and cancer there is an increased risk of comorbidities, regular physical activity might be a crucial point to be carefully evaluated on a single patient basis. The aim of this review is to highlight the impact on society and the etiology of sarcopenia and cancer cachexia, with particular regard to the role played by physical activity in preventing and counteracting these muscle-wasting conditions, focusing attention also on the limitation factors that must be considered during the prescription of physical activity to sarcopenic and cachectic patients. Key words: Sarcopenia, Cachexia, Muscle Tissue, Muscle Wasting, Physical Activity, Aging, Cancer. SažetakMišićno tkivo ima nekoliko važnih uloga po ljudsko zdravlje. Pored značajne mehaničke funkcije, ono predstavlja i najveći depo telesnih proteina. Osim toga, proizvodi i nekoliko miokina koji su, kroz interakcije sa drugim organima, u stanju da indukuju veoma bitne efekte. Gubitak mišićne mase ima izuzetan uticaj na zdravlje i ne iznenađuje činjenica da se sve više pažnje obraća na dva degenerativna, ireverzibilna i nezaustavljiva stanja, poznatija kao sarkopenija i kaheksija. Sarkopenija, starosno zavisan gubitak mišićne mase, nije ni bolest ni sindrom, čak nekada nije ni medicinski znak. Konsenzus naučnika zapravo nije utemeljio preciznu definiciju, kao ni kriterijume u vezi sa ovim stanjem. S druge strane, kaheksija predstavlja sindrom gubitka i karakteriše je nekontrolisan i nezaustavljiv gubitak mišićne mase, povezan sa umorom i slabošću. Često je povezana sa bolestima kao što su sindrom stečene imunodeficijencije (fr. syndrome d'immunodéficience acquise, SIDA), hronična opstruktivna bolest pluća (HOBP), multipla skleroza, tuberkuloza itd. Imajući u vidu kompleksnost ovih stanja povezanih sa mišić-nom masom, kao i činjenicu da je tokom starenja i u slučaju karcinoma povećan rizik od komorbiditeta, smatra se da redo...