Researchers have found evidence that exercising slows epigenetic aging of muscle cells, even in mice of advanced age.
The research team, which was comprised of scientists from University of Arkansas, University of Kentucky, and University of Texas Medical Branch, gave mice at the end of their lifespan (around 22 months) access to a weighted exercise wheel. Despite being elderly by mice standards, they ran an average of 6-8 kilometers per day. After two months, the amount of DNA methylation in their muscle cells, a measure of epigenetic aging, was compared to that of sedentary mice of the same age (24 months). The mice with access to the wheel were found to have an epigenetic age eight weeks younger than their sedentary counterparts.
Kevin Murach, an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation at the University of Arkansas, noted that while the specific strain of mice and their housing conditions can impact lifespans, “historically, they start dropping off after 24 months at a significant rate.” The findings indicate that the mice who built muscle, even at an advanced age, gained about a 10% increase in lifespan.
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As the body ages, there tends to be increased DNA methylation at promoter sites on genes in muscle. “DNA methylation changes in a lifespan tend to happen in a somewhat systematic fashion, to the point you can look at someone’s DNA from a given tissue sample and with a fair degree of accuracy predict their chronological age,” Murach says.
While the paper strengthens the case for exercise, even if taken up later in life, Murach is not yet prepared to say that the reversal of methylation with exercise is causative for improved muscle health. “That’s not what the study was set up to do,” he says. However, he intends to pursue future studies to determine if changes in methylation result in altered muscle function.
The study, entitled “Late-life exercise mitigates skeletal muscle epigenetic aging,” was published recently in Aging Cell.