Cacao flavonoid (-)-epicatechin inhibits myostatin and strengthens muscles
Cacao includes (-)-epicatechin [structural formula to the right], a flavonoid that improves endurance performance in diabetes, animals studies have shown improves the results of condition training and – if the animals stop training – maintains the training results for longer. According to researchers at the Mexican Escuela exceptional de medicine del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, this same (-)-epicatechin might also be of interest to strength athletes: it inhibits myostatin, has an anabolic effect and boosts muscle strength. In humans.
Cacao includes (-)-epicatechin [structural formula to the right], a flavonoid that improves endurance performance in diabetes, animals studies have shown improves the results of condition training and – if the animals stop training – maintains the training results for longer. According to researchers at the Mexican Escuela exceptional de medicine del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, this same (-)-epicatechin might also be of interest to strength athletes: it inhibits myostatin, has Camiseta VfL Wolfsburg an anabolic effect and boosts muscle strength. In humans.
The Mexicans’ study, which was published in January 2014 in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, was partly funded by Cardero Therapeutics, a company that develops new treatments for metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Although this study also mentions the positive effects of (-)-epicatechin in diabetics, its focus is Camiseta Nagoya Grampus on whether (-)-epicatechin might also help against sarcopaenia – the loss of muscle strength and mass as a result of aging.
The Mexicans tried to answer the question by Camiseta Selección de fútbol de Dinamarca performing a combination of animal and human studies.
To start with they studied the muscle cells of people in their twenties and in their sixties, and observed that aging leads to an increase in the concentration of myostatin, a protein that inhibits muscle growth, and a decrease in the concentration of follistatin, a substance that inhibits the effect of myostatin. Aging also reduces the concentration of the proteins MEF2A, Myf5, MyoD and myogenin, all of which are indicators of muscle growth.
The researchers then did an try out young mice [6 months old] and old mice [>2 years]. The researchers gave half of the mice 1 mg (-)-epicatechin per kg orally twice a day for two weeks, so the animals were given a total of 2 mg (-)-epicatechin per kg per day.
The figures below show that (-)-epicatechin had an anabolic effect in both young and old mice. The figures are self-explanatory.
The flavonoid that comes from cacao also functioned as a myostatin blocker.
The Mexicans then also did a small human study on 6 people in their forties and 6 in their seventies. The subjects were given two doses daily of 25 mg (-)-epicatechin for seven days. The subjects were light, and were given a total of 1 mg (-)-epicatechin per kg bodyweight per day. The researchers then looked at the effects that the supplement had on the subjects’ ability to clench their fists strongly, and at the concentrations of myostatin and follistatin in their blood.
No graphs of the results were published in the article. “Treatment for 7 days with (-)-epicatechin yielded a bilateral increase in hand strength of 7%, which was accompanied by a significant increase (49.2%) in the ratio of plasma follistatin/myostatin levels”, the researchers write.
That (-)-epicatechin is starting to look incredibly interesting. now it’s a question of waiting for a supplements producer to launch something in a sensible dosage.
Effects of (-)-epicatechin on molecular modulators of skeletal muscle growth and differentiation.
Gutierrez-Salmean G, Ciaraldi TP, Nogueira L, Barboza J, Taub PR, Hogan MC, Henry RR, Meaney E, Villarreal F, Ceballos G, Ramirez-Sanchez I.
Abstract
Sarcopenia is a noteworthy and debilitating age-associated condition. Flavonoids are known for their healthy effects and limited toxicity. The flavanol (-)-epicatechin (Epi) enhances exercise capacity in mice, and Epi-rich cocoa improves skeletal muscle structure in heart failure patients. (-)-Epicatechin may thus hold guarantee as treatment for sarcopenia. We analyzed changes in protein levels of molecular modulators of growth and differentiation in young vs. old, human and mouse skeletal muscle. We report the effects of Epi in mice and the results of an initial proof-of-concept trial in humans, where muscle strength and levels of modulators of muscle growth were measured. In mice, myostatin and senescence-associated ?-galactosidase levels increase with aging, while those of follistatin and Myf5 decrease. (-)-Epicatechin decreases myostatin and ?-galactosidase and increases levels of markers of muscle growth. In humans, myostatin and ?-galactosidase increase with aging while follistatin, MyoD and myogenin decrease. treatment for 7 days with (-)-epicatechin increases hand grip strength and the ratio of plasma follistatin/myostatin. In conclusion, aging has deleterious effects on modulators of muscle growth/differentiation, and the consumption of modest amounts of the flavanol (-)-epicatechin can partially reverse these changes. This flavanol warrants its extensive assessment for the treatment of sarcopenia.
PMID: 24314870 [PubMed – in process] PMCID: PMC3857584 [Available on 2015/1/1]
Source:
Cacao includes (-)-epicatechin [structural formula to the right], a flavonoid that improves endurance performance in diabetes, animals studies have shown improves the results of condition training and – if the animals stop training – maintains the training results for longer. According to researchers at the Mexican Escuela exceptional de medicine del Instituto Politecnico Nacional, this…