| First Author | Nakashima Y | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | BMC Complement Altern Med | Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 390 | PubMed ID | 25305781 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:311017 | Mgi Id | MGI:6764891 |
| Doi | 10.1186/1472-6882-14-390 | Citation | Nakashima Y, et al. (2014) Preventive effects of Chlorella on skeletal muscle atrophy in muscle-specific mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 activity-deficient mice. BMC Complement Altern Med 14:390 |
| abstractText | BACKGROUND: Oxidative stress is involved in age-related muscle atrophy, such as sarcopenia. Since Chlorella, a unicellular green alga, contains various antioxidant substances, we used a mouse model of enhanced oxidative stress to investigate whether Chlorella could prevent muscle atrophy. METHODS: Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is an anti-oxidative enzyme that detoxifies reactive aldehydes derived from lipid peroxides such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE). We therefore used transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative form of ALDH2 (ALDH2*2 Tg mice) to selectively decrease ALDH2 activity in the muscles. To evaluate the effect of Chlorella, the mice were fed a Chlorella-supplemented diet (CSD) for 6 months. RESULTS: ALDH2*2 Tg mice exhibited small body size, muscle atrophy, decreased fat content, osteopenia, and kyphosis, accompanied by increased muscular 4-HNE levels. The CSD helped in recovery of body weight, enhanced oxidative stress, and increased levels of a muscle impairment marker, creatine phosphokinase (CPK) induced by ALDH2*2. Furthermore, histological and histochemical analyses revealed that the consumption of the CSD improved skeletal muscle atrophy and the activity of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that long-term consumption of Chlorella has the potential to prevent age-related muscle atrophy. |
