Effects of lifelong spontaneous exercise on skeletal muscle and angiogenesis in super-aged mice

There has been an increasing awareness of sarcopenia, which is characterized by a concomitant decrease in skeletal muscle mass and quality due to aging. Resistance exercise is considered more effective than aerobic exercise in terms of therapeutic exercise. To confirm the effect of long-term aerobic exercise in preventing sarcopenia, we evaluated the skeletal muscle mass, quality, and angiogenic capacity of super-aged mice that had undergone lifelong spontaneous exercise (LSE) through various experiments. Our findings show that LSE could maintain skeletal muscle mass, quality, and fitness levels in super-aged mice. In addition, ex vivo experiments showed that the angiogenic capacity was maintained at a high level. However, these results were not consistent with the related changes in the expression of genes and/or proteins involved in protein synthesis or angiogenesis. Based on the results of previous studies, it seems certain that the expression at the molecular level does not represent the phenotypes of skeletal muscle and angiogenesis. This is because aging and long-term exercise are variables that can affect both protein synthesis and the expression patterns of angiogenesis-related genes and proteins. Therefore, in aging and exercise-related research, various physical fitness and angiogenesis variables and phenotypes should be analyzed. In conclusion, LSE appears to maintain the potential of angiogenesis and slow the aging process to maintain skeletal muscle mass and quality. Aerobic exercise may thus be effective for the prevention of sarcopenia.