Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
|
|
||||||||
16.01.2010 |
|
Ginkgo has anabolic effect on ageing muscles
Ginkgo & longevity
Sarcopenia is the scientific term for the weakening that occurs as a result of ageing. Muscles lose their strength and ability to function as people age. But we don't know exactly how this happens. Ageing probably something like a cascade of catabolic processes.
Study
After 60 days the researchers measured the effect that the ginkgo extract had had in the soleus calf muscle. Of course we are just dumb journalists with no real understanding of these matters, but we think this was a strange choice of muscle. The soleus is not that sensitive to ageing processes. A different calf muscle, the gastrocnemius reacts more to ageing. It's just possible that this study underestimates the anabolic effect of ginkgo.
Results
The effect of the ginkgo was not so great that the old rats' muscle tissue ended up like that of young animals.
The rats who'd been given ginkgo supplements also developed more muscle strength. The researchers discovered this when they made muscle fibres from the rats' soleus contract, and measured how much strength the fibres could generate.
The ginkgo supplementation had an effect on the concentration of the enzyme creatine kinase in the rats' blood. This is a marker for muscle damage. The more creatine kinase in the blood, the worse off the muscles are.
The young animals had 370 U/L in their blood. In the elderly rats that got nothing, the figure was 737 U/L. In the elderly rats that were given ginkgo, the creatine kinase level dropped to 371 U/L.
Blocking myostatin
The most important of those genes were connected to the production of muscle tissue, such as the genes for follistatin, follistatin related protein, activin receptor type I, embryonic myosin heavy chain and ryanodine receptor 3, and they all became more active. Other genes also reacted to the ginkgo: some got the muscle cells to burn more fatty acids, others reduced the amount of free radicals that the mitochondria in the muscle cells produced, and yet others made the muscle cells use less glucose as a source of energy.
The ginkgo also made the gene for tenascin C work twice as hard as normal. Tenascin C is a molecule found in muscle attachments. It's a component of collagen I and II. So gingko not only increases muscle mass and strength, but also strengthens the muscle attachments.
Conclusion
Source:
More: Archives:
|
|