Physical Exercise and Myokines: Relationships with Sarcopenia and Cardiovascular Complications

• Main Authors: Sandra Maria Barbalho, Uri Adrian Prync Flato, Ricardo José Tofano, Ricardo de Alvares Goulart, Elen Landgraf Guiguer, Cláudia Rucco P. Detregiachi, Daniela Vieira Buchaim, Adriano Cressoni Araújo, Rogério Leone Buchain, Fábio Tadeu Rodrigues Reina, Piero Biteli, Daniela O. B. Rodrigues Reina, Marcelo Dib Bechara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: sarcopenia; myokines; cardiovascular diseases
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/10/3607

Skeletal muscle is capable of secreting different factors in order to communicate with other tissues. These mediators, the myokines, show potentially far-reaching effects on non-muscle tissues and can provide a molecular interaction between muscle and body physiology. Sarcopenia is a chronic degenerative neuromuscular disease closely related to cardiomyopathy and chronic heart failure, which influences the production and release of myokines. Our objective was to explore the relationship between myokines, sarcopenia, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine actions of myokines include regulation of energy expenditure, insulin sensitivity, lipolysis, free fatty acid oxidation, adipocyte browning, glycogenolysis, glycogenesis, and general metabolism. A sedentary lifestyle accelerates the aging process and is a risk factor for developing sarcopenia, metabolic syndrome, and CVD. Increased adipose tissue resulting from the decrease in muscle mass in patients with sarcopenia may also be involved in the pathology of CVD. Myokines are protagonists in the complex condition of sarcopenia, which is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with CVD. The discovery of new pathways and the link between myokines and CVD remain a cornerstone toward multifaceted interventions and perhaps the minimization of the damage resulting from muscle loss induced by factors such as atherosclerosis.