Skeletal muscle: an endocrine organ
Open accessAbstract
Tropism and efficiency of skeletal muscle depend on the complex balance between anabolic and catabolic factors. This balance gradually deteriorates with aging, leading to an age-related decline in muscle quantity and quality, called sarcopenia: this condition plays a central role in physical and functional impairment in late life. The knowledge of the mechanisms that induce sarcopenia and the ability to prevent or counteract them, therefore, can greatly contribute to the prevention of disability and probably also mortality in the elderly. It is well known that skeletal muscle is the target of numerous hormones, but only in recent years studies have shown a role of skeletal muscle as a secretory organ of cytokines and other peptides, denominated myokines (IL6, IL8, IL15, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and leukaemia inhibitory factor), which have autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine actions and are deeply involved in inflammatory processes. Physical inactivity promotes an unbalance between these substances towards a pro-inflammatory status, thus favoring the vicious circle of sarcopenia, accumulation of fat - especially visceral - and development of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, dementia and depression, according to what has been called "the diseasome of physical inactivity".
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IL-6 is at high levels after exercise and plays an important role in systemic inflammation.
“Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an important IL that is at high levels after exercise and plays an important role in systemic inflammation (Pratesi et al., 2013).”
From Physical Exercise-Induced Myokines and Muscle-Adipose Tissue Crosstalk: A Review of Current Knowledge and the Implications for Health and Metabolic Diseases (2018) · cites this paper as Pratesi et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Pratesi, A.
- Affiliations
- Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Pratesi, A
- ORCID
- Pratesi, A
- Venue
- Clinical cases in mineral and bone metabolism
- Publisher
- Edikta s.r.l.
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 11-4
- ISSN
- 1724-8914 (ISSN-L)
- 1971-3266
- PMC
- PMC3710002
- OpenAlex
- W2065373112
- Cited by
- 185
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 9.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Clinical cases in mineral and bone metabolism (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CNR Solar (Scientific Open-access Literature Archive and Repository) (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) (acceptedVersion)
- Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
- Keywords
- myokines, sarcopenia, aging, physical inactivity, inflammation, cytokines, visceral fat, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, disability in the elderly, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, IL-15, leukemia inhibitory factor
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