Cellular senescence, oxidative stress, inflammation, and compromised myogenic signaling are the primary causes of skeletal muscle atrophy associated with ageing and chronic stress. As a negative player of the Wnt/β-catenin route, sclerostin (SOST) in...
Cellular senescence, oxidative stress, inflammation, and compromised myogenic signaling are the primary causes of skeletal muscle atrophy associated with ageing and chronic stress. As a negative player of the Wnt/β-catenin route, sclerostin (SOST) inhibits myogenic development and promotes protein degradation, both of which lead to muscle degeneration. This study assessed whether branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) may reduce atrophy-like alterations in skeletal muscle cells by modifying the expression of SOST. To induce senescence, inflammation, and glucocorticoid-related muscle atrophy, C2C12 myoblasts and matured myotubes have been treated with d-galactose (D-gal), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and dexamethasone (DEX). We examined cell viability percentages, mitochondrial oxidative stress, and the level of expression of senescence variables, myogenic indicators, and genes that are linked to muscle atrophy, after exposing cells to different doses of BCAAs. BCAA therapy improved the survival of cells and lowered levels of oxidative stress in all atrophic conditions. Furthermore, BCAAs suppressed the gene and protein level expression of SOST and senescence biomarkers, including P53 and P21, in myoblasts exposed to D-gal. In myotubes induced by TNF-α and DEX, BCAAs reliably restored the expression of myogenic genes involving MyOD, MyoG, and MyH6 while lowering the expression of catabolism elements like myostatin, Atrogin 1 and MuRF-1. SOST expression was considerably decreased by BCAA treatment under all settings for testing. These results highlight the potential of BCAAs as a dietary supplement to prevent age-related muscle loss, suggesting that they may help ameliorate atrophy-like alterations in muscle cells by reducing SOST myokine levels and promoting myogenic homeostasis.