Supplement appears to boost muscle, mitochondria health

Date:
January 20, 2022
Source:
University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine
Summary:
An oral supplement intended to stimulate a natural body process
appears to promote muscle endurance and mitochondrial health in
humans. New research suggests that the supplement, urolithin A,
may help improve or prolong muscle activity in people who are
aging or who have diseases that make exercise difficult.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
An oral supplement intended to stimulate a natural body process appears
to promote muscle endurance and mitochondrial health in humans. New
research suggests that the supplement, urolithin A, may help improve
or prolong muscle activity in people who are aging or who have diseases
that make exercise difficult.


==========================================================================
The paper was published in JAMA Network Open.

"This is relevant both to people with chronic diseases and people who want
to be more active later in life," said the lead author, David Marcinek,
a professor of radiology at the University of Washington School of
Medicine. His research has focused on the role of mitochondria in aging
and chronic disease.

Urolithin A is a byproduct of a person's gut bacteria and a diet
comprising polyphenols found in pomegranates, berries and nuts. Because
diet, age, genetics and disease affect the makeup of the gut microbiome,
people produce urolithin A at variable rates. The compound also is
produced and sold by dietary supplement companies.

Supplemental urolithin A has been shown in animal tests and molecular
studies of humans to stimulate mitophagy, a process that Marcinek
explained as "mitochondrial quality control." "Mitochondria are like
batteries that power the cells in your body," he said.

"But over time they break down. The process of mitophagy recognizes this failure and proactively tears down the mitochondria, reducing it to
elemental components that a cell can reuse. But with aging, mitophagy
becomes less efficient and your body accumulates this pool of failing mitochondria. It's one way that muscles become less functional as
we age." The researchers studied a small cohort of people over age 65
who were randomized to receive a placebo or a daily supplement of 1,000
mg urolithin A for four months. Each of the 66 subjects was confirmed
at the outset to have average or subpar capacity to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which mitochondria produce to help cells perform
myriad functions.



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The investigators hypothesized that, if the urolithin A supplement
indeed boosted mitophagy, the test cohort would experience improved
muscle function and greater ATP output.

Across both cohorts, two comparisons of muscle function were found to
support the thesis, but two others did not:
* Two measures of muscle endurance were improved in the supplemented
group
compared to the placebo group. Endurance was measured with
exercises involving the hand (first dorsal interosseous, between
thumb and forefinger) and leg (tibialis anterior, alongside the
shinbone.) Researchers measured the increase in the number of
muscle contractions until fatigue between a baseline test and the
final test four months later.

* Measures of distance covered during a six-minute walk improved
markedly
between tests at baseline and four months in both the supplement
and placebo groups. However, researchers saw no significant effect
of the supplement compared with the placebo.

* Measures (via magnetic resonance spectroscopy) of improvement
of maximal
ATP production did not change significantly between baseline and
four months in either group.

"Even though we did not observe an effect of the supplement in whole
body function (via six-minute measure and ATP production)," Marcinek
said, "these results are still exciting because they demonstrate that
just taking a supplement for a short duration actually improved muscle endurance. Fatigue resistance got better in the absence of exercise."
Plasma samples also were collected from study participants at the outset,
at two months and four months. The purpose was to assess supplement's
potential effect on urolithin A bioavailability and on biomarkers of mitochondrial health and inflammation. In the test cohort, Urolithin A
was associated with a significant reduction in several acylcarnitines
and ceramides implicated for their roles in metabolic disorders involving mitochondria, the investigators reported.

"I think these changes suggest that the treatment affects the metabolic condition of people. Even though it didn't affect the maximum ATP
production, it improved test subjects' general metabolism," Marcinek said.

He added that urolithin A supplements could have potential to benefit
people who cannot get the exercise they want due to poor muscle health
or disease.

"Just getting them over that point where exercise is possible -- a
walk around the block or climbing some stairs -- might help a person
build their own health." The study's funder, Amazentis, of Lausanne, Switzerland, manufactures the urolithin A supplement used in the trial.

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Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sophia Liu, Davide D'Amico, Eric Shankland, Saakshi Bhayana, Jose M.

Garcia, Patrick Aebischer, Chris Rinsch, Anurag Singh, David
J. Marcinek.

Effect of Urolithin A Supplementation on Muscle Endurance and
Mitochondrial Health in Older Adults. JAMA Network Open, 2022; 5
(1): e2144279 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.44279 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220120125342.htm

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