Adipose tissue inflammation and the regulation of muscle mass
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Adipose tissue inflammation and the regulation of muscle mass in ageing
IRAS ID
345960
Contact name
Dylan Thompson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Many people experience muscle loss as they get older. This can lead to muscle weakness and, in some people, it can eventually lead to frailty and loss of independence. A key factor that leads to age-related muscle loss and weakness is a raised level of molecules involved in inflammation – but the main cause of this inflammation has always been uncertain.
Adipose tissue (body fat) produces hundreds of molecules that can affect our health. Our work demonstrates that adipose tissue becomes inflamed and produces large amounts of inflammatory molecules in some older people. We found that the production of some of these molecules predicts whether people have less muscle. Based on these findings, we believe that adipose tissue is a major source of inflammation in ageing in some people, and that when adipose tissue is inflamed, it negatively affects the ability to maintain normal amounts of muscle.
In this new project, we want to directly assess how well the muscles of older men and women with different levels of adipose tissue inflammation are able to produce muscle. We will compare adipose tissue from older people with that of younger people. We also want to try and work out which cells in adipose tissue are producing the molecules causing inflammation.
We hope that this project will pave the way for new treatments to avoid loss of muscle and frailty with ageing, thus helping people to reduce frailty and live independently for longer.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
24/WA/0242
Date of REC Opinion
2 Sep 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion