Sarcopenia is the progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and functions as we age. The pathogenesis of sarcopenia is underlined by oxidative stress and inflammation. As such, it is reasonable to suggest that a natural compound with both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities could prevent sarcopenia. Curcumin, a natural compound derived from turmeric with both properties, could benefit muscle health.
Author (Years) | Study Design | Major Findings | Conclusion |
---|---|---|---|
Lee et al., 2021 [58] | 80 and 40 mg/kg curcumin administered 30 min before forced exercise for 28 days on 10-month-old male Hsd/ICR (CD-1) mice. | ↑ calf thicknesses and strengths, total body and calf protein amounts, and muscle weights in gastrocnemius and soleus muscles ↓ MDA levels and ROS contents in gastrocnemius and soleus muscle ↑ GSH contents, SOD and CAT in gastrocnemius and soleus muscle ↓ mRNA expressions in gastrocnemius and soleus muscle ↑ protein synthesis ↑muscle hypertrophic changes ↑ ATPase-immunoreactive fibers and normalised myostatin-immunoreactive fibers ↓ muscular caspase-3 and PARP immunoreactivities ↓ nitro tyrosine, 4HNE and iNOS-specific muscle fibers. |
Curcumin can improve muscle health in combination with exercise. Appropriate dosages of curcumin for muscle health improvement require further investigation in both animals and humans. |
Liang et al., 2021 [57] | Sprague Dawley rats with muscle injury given 150 mg/kg curcumin (Cur-SHAP) 4 times over 42 days before being injected with LPS twice a week. 200 mg Curcumin + 200 mL ddH2O and mixed with 500 mg of SHAP particles were used in this study. |
↑ muscle endurance as per 30-min treadmill test Fully recover grip strength ↓ TP, CL, LDH, calcium and ALT values compared to LPS group |
Hydroxyapatite and hydrophobic surface modification are used to load curcumin for intramuscular drug administration. This method helped rats with LPS-induced sarcopenia to regain their health. |
Tsai et al., 2020 [54] | 8-week-old male ICR mice given oral doses of curcumin at 10 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg BW once daily for 7 days after injury. | ↑food intake in muscle injured rats ↑ muscle mass ↑ functional recovery of gait speed test ↓ serum uric acid, CK levels, MDA levels ↓ protein levels of Ikk-α/β, MPO, CD206 and myogenin ↓ disruption of muscle tissues in contusion-induced muscle injury |
Curcumin may affect inflammation, neutrophil, and satellite cell differentiation proteins. Curcumin has potential to speed up muscle healing. Further research is needed to determine curcumin usefulness in medicine for muscle restoration. |
Sani et al., 2021 [59] | Different amounts of curcuminoids were grown and given to C2C12 cells (in vitro model of muscle atrophy). | ↓ Atrogin-1 gene expression ↓ MuRF-1 gene expression ↑ p-AKT |
Curcumin can prevent muscle atrophy. These effects make them promising therapeutic agents for treating sarcopenic patients. |
Gorza et al., 2021 [49] | Male C57BL6J and C57BL10ScSn mice aged 18 months treated with curcumin for 6 months. 100 uL volume of 50 mg/mL curcumin in ethanol added to 1.5 mL of 100 mg/mL HPβCD in 0.15 M NaCl, 0.2 mM PBS pH 7.4 was used in this study. |
↑ specific tetanic tension ↑ pure type 2x myofibers ↑ EDL myofibers ↓ dystrophin protein levels and further melusin amounts. ↑ SERCA1 protein levels in old soleus ↓ SERCA 1 protein levels in old EDL ↓ Tas in EDL muscles |
Curcumin can reverse some age-related changes in muscle proteins and distribution of costamere components. Helps maintain adult muscle levels in regeneration muscles. Increased the number of satellite cells in aged muscles. Delays onset of muscle loss. |
Receno et al., 2019 [53] | Male F344xBN rats aged 32 months were fed either a diet containing 0.2% curcumin or a control diet for 4 months. | ↓ Food intake ↑ Nrf2 levels in plantaris muscle ↓ 3-NT and PC levels ↑ specific peak twitch and specific tetanic tension response |
Curcumin consumption along with less food intake has positive effects on skeletal muscle in older people. Variability in measurements may be due to the absence of curcumin at tissue or systemic levels. |
Liu et al., 2016 [56] | Male C57BL/6J mice aged 10–12 weeks treated with 100 mg/kg curcumin solution via IP 1 hour before ligation surgery. | ↑ running capacity ↑ muscle regeneration (↑ fiber density and ↓ fibrosis) ↓ macrophage infiltration in ischemic muscle ↓ TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in limb muscle tissue ↓ levels of NF-κB-p65 |
Curcumin can inhibit activation of NF-κB in macrophages induced by LPS. Can help improve hindlimb injury after ischemic surgery, indicating its potential use for treating PAD. |
Ono et al., 2015 [55] | C57BL/6J 8–10 weeks mice fed with 1500 mg/kg curcumin for 2 weeks and compared to DM group. | ↓ body weight Improve myocyte cross-sectional area ↓ ubiquitin-conjugated proteins. ↓ atrogin-1/MAFbX and MuRF-1 ↓ TNF-α and IL-1β ↓ superoxide and TBARS |
Curcumin could be a useful treatment for muscle atrophy in type 1 DM. Antioxidant properties of curcumin are not well-defined and more research is needed. |
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/nu15112526