Catabolism of aging: is it an inflammatory process?

Research in the field of sarcopenia is evolving rapidly, and the process is now recognized as an important cause of frailty and morbidity in the elderly. This review focuses on recent developments in the field, especially regarding the role of catabolic stimuli in causing sarcopenia.

There is now an impressive body of literature implicating increased interleukin-6 levels in successfully aging adults. New data indicate that high interleukin-6 levels carry a poor prognosis, although it is not clear if the cytokine has primarily a causal or counter-regulatory function. Interleukin-6 and other cytokines could function through direct catabolic effects, or by causing reduced dietary energy intake (the anorexia of aging), or by inducing insulin resistance or lowering growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-I concentrations. Furthermore, apoptosis has now been linked to sarcopenia, suggesting that an inflammatory signal could trigger loss of muscle cells in the elderly even in the absence of overt inflammatory disease.

Aging causes loss of many of the anabolic signals to muscle that are present in young adulthood. Recent research suggests that there is also an increase in catabolic signals with age.