β-Carotene Increases Muscle Mass and Hypertrophy in the Soleus Muscle in Mice

Abstract

Summary Supplements and naturally occurring nutraceuticals effective for maintenance or enhancement of skeletal muscle mass are expected to contribute to prevention of decreased mobility and increased risk of developing metabolic diseases. However, information about available food components remains widely unavailable. In the present study, we investigated the effects of dietary b-carotene on the quantity and quality of skeletal muscle under physiological conditions. Male ddY mice (8 wk old) were orally administered b-carotene (0.5 mg once daily) for 14 d. Dietary b-carotene had no influence on body weight, but increased the soleus muscle/body weight ratio. The cross-sectional area (CSA) in muscle fibers of the soleus muscle was increased, indicating that administration of b-carotene induces muscle hypertrophy. In the soleus muscle of the b-carotene-administered mice, twitch force tended to be increased (p50.06) and tetanic force was significantly increased, whereas specific force (force per CSA) remained unchanged. Dietary b-carotene increased the mRNA level of insulin-like growth factor 1 (Igf-1) as its splicing variant Igf-1ea, but had no influence on the liver Igf-1 mRNA level or serum IGF-1 level. b-Carotene promoted protein synthesis in the soleus muscle and reduced levels of ubiquitin conjugates, but had no influence on the mRNA levels of two atrogenes, Atrogin-1 and Murf1. On the other hand, b-carotene had no influence on the processing of the autophagy marker protein light chain 3. These results indicate that in mice, administration of b-carotene increases mass and induces functional hypertrophy in the soleus muscle, perhaps by promoting IGF-1-mediated protein synthesis and by reducing ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.

Lnc-mg is a long non-coding RNA that promotes myogenesis

“…The muscle force measurement was performed essentially according to the published method56. Mice were anaesthetized via intraperitoneal injection of a cocktail containing 25 mg ml − 1 ketamine, 2.5 mg ml − 1 xylazine and 0.5 mg ml − 1 acepromazine at 2.5 ml per gram body weight.…”

Astaxanthin Prevents Atrophy in Slow Fiber Muscles by Inhibiting Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species Via a Mitochondria-Mediated Apoptosis Pathway

“…Indo et al showed that the SO muscle, which is enriched with slow-twitch fibers, exhibits a higher production of ROS than fast-twitch fibers [3]. Some studies have also reported that dietary antioxidants reduce ROS production and ameliorate atrophy in the SO muscle more than other fast-twitch fibers [39][40][41]. These results indicate that AX could target the mitochondria to eliminate O 2-production and inhibit muscle atrophy induced due to mitochondrial oxidative stress in slow-twitch fibers.…”

Effect of feeding rice whole crop silage on growth rate, levels of vitamin A, β‐carotene, vitamin E and IGF‐1 in plasma and skeletal muscle protein degradation in Japanese black calves

“…In the present study, the plasma β‐carotene concentration indicated significant higher level in the RWCS group compared with the control group. β‐Carotene reduced the concentrations of ubiquitin conjugates but had no influence on the mRNA concentrations of the two atrogenes Atrogin‐1 (FBXO32) and Murf1 (TRIM63) (Kitakaze et al., ). UBB and ubiquitin C (UBC), along with the constitutive monomeric ubiquitin ribosomal fusion genes, encode ubiquitin, one of the most conserved eukaryotic proteins (Finley, Bartel, & Varshavsky, ; Wiborg et al., ).…”

“…Kitakaze et al. () reported that β‐carotene increased muscle mass and hypertrophy in the soleus muscle, which is mainly composed of type I myofibers, in mice. This suggests that the high concentration of vitamin E might interfere with the absorption of β‐carotene, but feeding RWCS might induce oxidative muscle hypertrophy because of a high plasma β‐carotene concentration until it was interfered.…”

“…The plasma IGF‐1 concentration decreases with vitamin A restriction (Oka, Dohgo, Juen, & Saito, ). Administration of β‐carotene increases mass and induces functional hypertrophy in the soleus muscle by promoting IGF‐1‐mediated protein synthesis and reducing ubiquitin‐mediated protein degradation (Kitakaze, Harada Nm Imagita, & Yamaji, ). Therefore, feeding RWCS to Japanese Black calves until 9 months of age might improve growth.…”