An Oral Supplement May Boost Muscle and Mitochondrial Health

An oral supplement designed to stimulate the body's natural processes appears to boost muscular endurance and mitochondrial health in humans

The paper was published on JAMA Network Open

"This is a great opportunity for people with chronic medical conditions and those who want to be more active in later life," said the study's lead author, David Marcinek, a professor of radiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Urolithin A is a by-product of human gut bacteria whose diet contains polyphenols from pomegranates, berries and nuts

Urolithin A supplementation has been shown to stimulate mitochondrial phagocytosis in animal experiments and in human molecular studies, a process that Mathenek interprets as "mitochondrial quality control

"Mitochondria are like batteries that power the cells in your body," he said

The researchers studied a group of people over the age of 65 who were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or 1,000 mg of urolithin a daily for 4 months

The researchers hypothesized that if urolithin A supplementation did promote mitochondrial phagocytosis, the test cohort would experience improved muscle function and greater ATP output

In both cohorts, the comparison of muscle function in the two groups supported this argument, but not in the other two groups:

• Two measures of muscular endurance improved in the supplementation group compared to the placebo group

  
  

• Six-minute walk distance was significantly improved in both the supplement and placebo groups at baseline and in the four-month test

  
  

• In both groups, the improvement in maximal ATP production did not change significantly between baseline and 4 months, as measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy

  
  

"Although we did not observe an effect of supplementation on overall body function (measured by 6 minutes and ATP production)," Marcinek said, "these results are still exciting because they demonstrate that just short-term supplementation actually improves muscle endurance

Plasma samples from participants were also collected at the start of the study, at two and four months

"I think these changes suggest that the treatment affected people's metabolic profile

Urolithin A supplements may have potential benefits for those who are unable to get the exercise they want due to poor muscle health or disease, he added
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"Just getting them to get past this stage and doing some possible exercise -- walking around the block or climbing the stairs -- may help them build their fitness
.
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