Age related profiles of free amino acids in human skeletal muscle.

Sarcopenia describes the involuntary decline in muscle mass with aging, coupled with fatigue, and loss of force and function. We investigated 113 human muscle biopsy specimens obtained from patients with neuromuscular diseases and controls. We measured 21 amino acids in these muscle biopsies. Age emerged as a significant negative predictor of cytosolic concentration ratio of glutamine to total branched chain amino acids and of glutamine to total aromatic amino acids using stepwise multiple linear regression analysis. This pattern of alteration corresponds well to documented alterations in skeletal muscle of critically ill patients and after immobilization. Additionally, in myositis, citrulline was significantly elevated, while glutamate, lysine and taurine were significantly reduced. Furthermore, in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (sALS) the total aromatic amino acids, arginine, glutamate, threonine, and tyrosine were significantly elevated. This study provides evidence, that alteration of glutamine is correlated to aging and might reflect increased proteolysis in aged and diseased human skeletal muscle.

Influence of diagnostic categories, age, and gender on antioxidative defense and lipid peroxidation in skeletal muscle of patients with neuromuscular diseases.

The influence of diagnostic categories, age, and gender on parameters of oxidative stress measured in 102 patients with neuromuscular diseases and 11 control subjects was assessed using a stepwise multiple linear regression model. Antioxidative enzyme activities, lipophilic antioxidants, and lipid peroxidation were analyzed in muscle biopsies. Mitochondrial myopathies and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are thought to be particularly susceptible to increased oxidative stress. In our study, mitochondrial myopathies emerged as a positive predictor of malondialdehyde (p < 0.05) and ALS as a negative predictor of alpha-tocopherol (p < 0.05). Although the primary atrophic process in ALS is not in muscle but in motoneurons, this finding could have therapeutic implications, as such patients might benefit from antioxidant supplementation. In our study age emerged as a negative predictor of the coenzyme Q10 concentration (p < 0.003), whereas the percentage of reduced coenzyme Q10 remained unchanged. Age emerged as a positive predictor of the activities of catalase (p < 0.01) and superoxide dismutase (p < 0.002), probably reflecting an enzymatic upregulation that compensates for the loss of coenzyme Q10. The increased activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase in females compared to males indicate a higher antioxidative potential in female muscle. Whether this increase contributes to a higher life expectancy of women remains to be investigated.