Lactate Stimulates a Potential for Hypertrophy and Regeneration of Mouse Skeletal Muscle

• Main Authors: Yoshitaka Ohno, Koki Ando, Takafumi Ito, Yohei Suda, Yuki Matsui, Akiko Oyama, Hikari Kaneko, Shingo Yokoyama, Tatsuro Egawa, Katsumasa Goto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: lactate; skeletal muscle; hypertrophy; regeneration; muscle satellite cell
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/4/869

The effects of lactate on muscle mass and regeneration were investigated using mouse skeletal muscle tissue and cultured C2C12 cells. Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into (1) control, (2) lactate (1 mol/L in distilled water, 8.9 mL/g body weight)-administered, (3) cardio toxin (CTX)-injected (CX), and (4) lactate-administered after CTX-injection (LX) groups. CTX was injected into right tibialis anterior (TA) muscle before the oral administration of sodium lactate (five days/week for two weeks) to the mice. Oral lactate administration increased the muscle weight and fiber cross-sectional area, and the population of Pax7-positive nuclei in mouse TA skeletal muscle. Oral administration of lactate also facilitated the recovery process of CTX-associated injured mouse TA muscle mass accompanied with a transient increase in the population of Pax7-positive nuclei. Mouse myoblast-derived C2C12 cells were differentiated for five days to form myotubes with or without lactate administration. C2C12 myotube formation with an increase in protein content, fiber diameter, length, and myo-nuclei was stimulated by lactate. These observations suggest that lactate may be a potential molecule to stimulate muscle hypertrophy and regeneration of mouse skeletal muscle via the activation of muscle satellite cells.