Hormonal
Exercise-induced myokines (exerkines) such as SDF1, irisin, and SPARC counteract muscle wasting in diseases like cancer cachexia, COPD, and aging by modulating protein synthesis and degradation pathways.
If you are dealing with muscle loss due to illness or age, regular physical activity is a key treatment. It triggers your muscles to release protective proteins (myokines) that help stop muscle breakdown. You do not need to be an athlete; even moderate aerobic or resistance exercise can help restore these protective factors.
Restoring myokines by physical activity may be added to the list of mechanisms by which exercise exerts preventative or curative effects against a large number of diseases, including the deleterious muscle wasting they may cause.
Why this rating
The paper is a mini-review summarizing various studies, including animal models and some human data, but notes that 'more studies are needed' for many specific myokines.
Source
Exercise-Induced Myokines With Therapeutic Potential for Muscle Wasting
Rosanna Piccirillo · Frontiers in Physiology · 2019
DOI 10.3389/fphys.2019.00287
More from this paper
- Aerobic exercise preferentially induces oxidative fiber myokines (e.g., SDF1, irisin) which protect against cancer-induced atrophy, while anaerobic exercise induces glycolytic fiber myokines (e.g., IGF-1) that enhance protein synthesis.Moderate
- Myostatin and GDF11 are myokines that promote muscle wasting and are elevated in conditions like cancer, COPD, and aging, whereas exercise can reduce myostatin and restore other protective myokines.Moderate
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