Fish Oil Supplement Mitigates Muscle Injury In Vivo and In Vitro: A Preliminary Report

Area of Science:

• Muscle physiology
• Aging research
• Nutritional science

Background:

• Older adults experience delayed muscle function recovery post-injury.
• Impaired sarcolemmal membrane repair in aging may increase myocyte death and prolong recovery.
• Dietary fish oil (FO) may modify plasma membranes, potentially improving injury response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of dietary fish oil (FO) on muscle contractile recovery in aged rats.
• To assess FO's impact on sarcolemmal membrane repair mechanisms in muscle cells.

Main Methods:

• An 8-week dietary intervention with FO or control diet was administered to aged and adult rats post-contusion injury.
• Muscle contractile recovery was measured in both groups.
• C2C12 myoblasts were cultured with FO and subjected to laser-induced injury to assess sarcolemmal repair using FM4-64 fluorescence.

Main Results:

• Aged rats on a control diet showed reduced muscle recovery (63%) compared to adults (80%).
• Aged rats supplemented with FO demonstrated recovery rates (78%) similar to adult rats.
• In vitro, FO significantly reduced sarcolemmal injury markers (FM4-64 fluorescence) in a dose- and time-dependent manner.

Conclusions:

• Dietary fish oil (FO) shows promise in enhancing muscle function recovery in older adults following injury.
• FO may improve recovery by bolstering sarcolemmal membrane resealing and repair processes.
• These findings suggest a potential therapeutic role for FO in age-related muscle injury recovery.