New Trends to Treat Muscular Atrophy: A Systematic Review of Epicatechin
Íris Jasmin Santos German, Karina Torres Pomini, Jesús Carlos Andreo, João Vitor Tadashi Cosin Shindo, Marcela Vialogo Marques de Castro, Cláudia Rucco Penteado Detregiachi, Adriano Cressoni Araújo, Élen Landgraf Guiguer, Lucas Fornari Laurindo, Patrícia Cincotto dos Santos Bueno, Maricelma da Silva Soares de Souza, Márcia Rocha Gabaldi, Sandra Maria Barbalho, André Luis Shinohara
Abstract
Epicatechin is a polyphenol compound that promotes skeletal muscle differentiation and counteracts the pathways that participate in the degradation of proteins. Several studies present contradictory results of treatment protocols and therapeutic effects. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review was to investigate the current literature showing the molecular mechanism and clinical protocol of epicatechin in muscle atrophy in humans, animals, and myoblast cell-line. The search was conducted in Embase, PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. The qualitative analysis demonstrated that there is a commonness of epicatechin inhibitory action in myostatin expression and atrogenes MAFbx, FOXO, and MuRF1. Epicatechin showed positive effects on follistatin and on the stimulation of factors related to the myogenic actions (MyoD, Myf5, and myogenin). Furthermore, the literature also showed that epicatechin can interfere with mitochondrias' biosynthesis in muscle fibers, stimulation of the signaling pathways of AKT/mTOR protein production, and amelioration of skeletal musculature performance, particularly when combined with physical exercise. Epicatechin can, for these reasons, exhibit clinical applicability due to the beneficial results under conditions that negatively affect the skeletal musculature. However, there is no protocol standardization or enough clinical evidence to draw more specific conclusions on its therapeutic implementation.