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サルコペニアプロジェクト
Research Overview
Elderly and ill people have reduced walking speed (less than 1 m/sec) and a higher risk of falling due to decreased muscle strength and muscle mass. This condition is called sarcopenia and has become a social problem in Japan, a country with an advanced aging population. This project aims to understand how sarcopenia occurs and develop optimal prevention and treatment methods. Since sarcopenia is often observed in cancer patients and cardiomyopathy patients, we will clarify the relationship between the two and develop methods to alleviate sarcopenia.
Research Features
Research to understand and treat sarcopenia will be conducted in the following three phases
(i) Basic research: We will develop a technology to non-invasively quantify muscle weakness and cellular damage. Using this technology, various cellular stresses will be applied to quantify muscle weakness and cell damage.
(ii) Medical application research: Since reactive oxygen species (ROS) are known to cause muscle deterioration, we will administer a drug that decreases ROS to mice and verify whether it is effective in preventing damage. Furthermore, we will develop countermeasures against the causes of muscle damage identified in (1) above.
(3) Social implementation: A simple way to prevent sarcopenia is to perform full-body exercise. We will build a system that allows people to enjoy and efficiently exercise both indoors and outdoors to prevent muscle weakness.
Expected Outcomes and Destinations
Most sarcopenia can be prevented to some extent through whole-body exercise. However, there are many unknowns regarding the causes of muscle weakness due to aging, so we will clarify the causes through basic research. Furthermore, through the development of countermeasures, we will not only contribute to basic medical science and bioengineering, but also improve our quality of life (QOL).
Sarcopenia is known to occur frequently in patients with cancer and cardiomyopathy. Through this project, we will understand the direct relationship linking these diseases and sarcopenia at the molecular level. We then aim to improve quality of life by improving care during and after disease treatment.
Along with sarcopenia, frailty (physical frailty) and locomo (loss of motor function) are other sides of muscle weakness, and more than 40 million people in Japan alone exhibit these motor dysfunctions. Developing effective improvement methods for such a large population will not only improve the quality of life of the people, but will also have a tremendous impact on the economy.
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