Fermented Yak-Kong using derived from Korean infant intestine effectively relieves muscle atrophy in an aging mouse model

• Published in: Food & function 2024-07, Vol.15 (13), p.7224-7237
• Main Authors: Yang, Seung Hee, Yang, Hee, Ahn, Byeong Min, Lee, Sung-Young, Lee, Seon Joo, Kim, Jin Soo, Koo, Young Tae, Lee, Chang Hyung, Kim, Jong Hun, Yoon Park, Jung Han, Jang, Young Jin, Lee, Ki Won
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2042-6496; 2042-650X
• DOI: 10.1039/d3fo04204a

Yak-Kong (YK) is a small black soybean widely cultivated in Korea. It is considered to have excellent health functionality, as it has been reported to have better antioxidant efficacy than conventional black or yellow soybeans. Since YK has been described as good for the muscle health of the elderly in old oriental medicine books, this study sought to investigate the effect of fermented YK with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis LDTM 8102 (FYK) on muscle atrophy. In C2C12 mouse myoblasts, FYK elevated the expression of MyoD, total MHC, phosphorylated AKT, and PGC1α. In addition, two kinds of in vivo studies were conducted using both an induced and normal aging mouse model. The behavioral test results showed that in the induced aging mouse model, FYK intake alleviated age-related muscle weakness and loss of exercise performance. In addition, FYK alleviated muscle mass decrease and improved the expression of biomarkers including total MHC, myf6, phosphorylated AKT, PGC1α, and Tfam, which are related to myoblast differentiation, muscle protein synthesis, and mitochondrial generation in the muscle. In the normal aging model, FYK consumption did not increase muscle mass, but did upregulate the expression levels of biomarkers related to myoblast differentiation, muscle hypertrophy, and muscle function. Furthermore, it mitigated age-related declines in skeletal muscle force production and functional limitation by enhancing exercise performance and grip strength. Taken together, the results suggest that FYK has the potential to be a new functional food material that can alleviate the loss of muscle mass and strength caused by aging and prevent sarcopenia. FYK has the potential as a functional food or pharmaceutical ingredient for addressing muscle atrophy. Through cell and animal model experiments, FYK demonstrated significant effects in alleviating muscle loss and improving muscle function.