Pharmacological interventions for treatment of sarcopenia: Current status of drug development for sarcopenia
Open accessAbstract
Sarcopenia, the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function with age, was first recognized as a disease in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) (M62.84) and has recently attracted attention as aged populations increase. However, the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia remain controversial and there are as yet no US Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for sarcopenia. Given that both intrinsic and extrinsic factors contribute to sarcopenia onset and development, understanding the mechanism of sarcopenia is important for the development of therapeutic strategies. In this review, we described a variety of drugs for sarcopenia under investigation, including myostatin/ActR2 signaling inhibitors, exercise mimetics, anabolic hormones, and natural compounds. However, the combination of non-drug therapies with exercise and nutritional supplements are also needed as more easily accessible intervention strategies against sarcopenia rather than pharmacological treatments alone. Many approaches to develop therapeutic methods to overcome sarcopenia may lead to healthy aging.
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To date, there are still no authorized drugs for managing sarcopenia.
“However, despite the efforts made towards development, to date, there are still no authorized drugs for managing sarcopenia (156).”
From From mitochondria to sarcopenia: role of 17β-estradiol and testosterone (2023) · cites this paper as [156]
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- Authors
- Kwak, J. Y., & Kwon, K.-S.
- Affiliations
- Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Kwon, Ki-Sun
- Venue
- Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research
- Publisher
- The Korean Geriatrics Society
- Published
- 2019-09-30
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 98-104
- ISSN
- 2508-4798 (ISSN-L)
- 2508-4909
- PMC
- PMC7370765
- OpenAlex
- W2953709313
- Cited by
- 171
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 2
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Annals of Geriatric Medicine and Research (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- KRIBB Repository (submittedVersion)
- 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 › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Keywords
- sarcopenia, pharmacotherapy, drug development, exercise mimetics, anabolic hormones, natural compounds, healthy aging, skeletal muscle atrophy, dietary supplements, exercise therapy, sarcopenia diagnostic criteria
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