Improvement in Skeletal Muscle Strength and Plasma Levels of Follistatin and Myostatin Induced by an 8-Week Resistance Training and Epicatechin Supplementation in Sarcopenic Older Adults.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine the effects of resistance training and epicatechin supplementation on muscle strength, follistatin, and myostatin levels in older adults with sarcopenia.
Results Summary
The combination of resistance training and epicatechin (RT+EP) showed the greatest increase in follistatin, follistatin/myostatin ratio, leg press, and chest press compared to resistance training alone, epicatechin alone, or placebo. Myostatin decreased significantly only in RT+EP and RT groups, while appendicular muscle mass index and timed up and go test improved in all experimental groups compared to placebo.
Population
62 males with sarcopenia, aged 68.63 ± 2.86 years.
Effective Dosage
Not specified in the abstract.
Duration
8 weeks.
Interactions
None mentioned.
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
resistance training+epicatechin | increase | follistatin | older adults with sarcopenia | - | significantly greatest increase was observed | #1 |
resistance training+epicatechin | increase | follistatin/myostatin ratio | older adults with sarcopenia | - | significantly greatest increase was observed | #2 |
resistance training+epicatechin | increase | leg press | older adults with sarcopenia | - | significantly greatest increase was observed | #3 |
resistance training+epicatechin | increase | chest press | older adults with sarcopenia | - | significantly greatest increase was observed | #4 |
resistance training+epicatechin | decrease | myostatin | older adults with sarcopenia | - | decreased significantly | #5 |
resistance training | decrease | myostatin | older adults with sarcopenia | - | decreased significantly | #6 |
resistance training | increase | appendicular muscle mass index | older adults with sarcopenia | - | enhanced significantly | #7 |
resistance training | increase | timed up and go test | older adults with sarcopenia | - | enhanced significantly | #8 |
epicatechin | increase | appendicular muscle mass index | older adults with sarcopenia | - | enhanced significantly | #9 |
epicatechin | increase | timed up and go test | older adults with sarcopenia | - | enhanced significantly | #10 |
resistance training+epicatechin | increase | appendicular muscle mass index | older adults with sarcopenia | - | enhanced significantly | #11 |
resistance training+epicatechin | increase | timed up and go test | older adults with sarcopenia | - | enhanced significantly | #12 |
To investigate the effects of resistance training and epicatechin supplementation on muscle strength, follistatin, and myostatin in older adults with sarcopenia, a total of 62 males with sarcopenia (68.63 ± 2.86 years) underwent a supervised 8-week randomized controlled trial. Participants were divided into resistance training (RT), epicatechin (EP), resistance training+epicatechin (RT+EP), and placebo (PL) in a double-blind method. A pretest and posttest measurement was conducted. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze between-group differences. The significantly greatest increase was observed in follistatin, follistatin/myostatin ratio, leg press, and chest press in RT+EP comparing RT, EP, and PL groups, whereas myostatin decreased significantly only in RT+EP and RT groups. However, appendicular muscle mass index and timed up and go test were enhanced significantly in all experimental groups than the PL group (