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Preserving muscle mass and strength is critical for long-term health and longevity. Age-related muscle lipid accumulation has been shown to be detrimental to muscle health. In healthy older individuals, we sought to determine whether muscle lipid content, determined from computed tomography, is associated with self-reported physical function, laboratory-measured performance, and the response to progressive resistance training (PRT), and how metformin may alter these responses (N = 46 placebo, 48 metformin). Using multiple linear regression models adjusted for confounders in a large cohort, we show that intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) was not associated with baseline function or response to PRT, contrary to previous reports. On the other hand, thigh muscle density (TMD), as an indicator of intra- and extramyocellular lipid (IMCL and EMCL), remained strongly and independently positively associated with physical function and performance following adjustment. Baseline TMD was inversely associated with gains in strength, independent of muscle mass. Percent change in TMD was positively associated with improved chair stand and increased type II fiber frequency but was not associated with muscle hypertrophy or overall strength gain following PRT. For the first time, we show that metformin use during PRT blunted density and strength gains by inhibiting fiber type switching primarily in those with low baseline TMD. These results indicate that participants with higher muscle lipid content derive the most performance benefit from PRT. Our results further indicate that muscle density may be as influential as muscle size for strength, physical function, and performance in healthy older adults. ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02308228, Registered on 25 November 2014.

Evidence from clinical trials and observational studies suggests that both progressive resistance exercise training (PRT) and metformin delay a variety of age-related morbidities. Previously, we completed a clinical trial testing the effects of 14 weeks of PRT + metformin (metPRT) compared to PRT with placebo (plaPRT) on muscle hypertrophy in older adults. We found that metformin blunted PRT-induced muscle hypertrophic response. To understand potential mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effect of metformin on PRT, we analyzed the muscle transcriptome in 23 metPRT and 24 plaPRT participants. PRT significantly increased expression of genes involved in extracellular matrix remodeling pathways, and downregulated RNA processing pathways in both groups, however, metformin attenuated the number of differentially expressed genes within these pathways compared to plaPRT. Pathway analysis showed that genes unique to metPRT modulated aging-relevant pathways, such as cellular senescence and autophagy. Differentially expressed genes from baseline biopsies in older adults compared to resting muscle from young volunteers were reduced following PRT in plaPRT and were further reduced in metPRT. We suggest that although metformin may blunt pathways induced by PRT to promote muscle hypertrophy, adjunctive metformin during PRT may have beneficial effects on aging-associated pathways in muscle from older adults.

Progressive resistance exercise training (PRT) is the most effective known intervention for combating aging skeletal muscle atrophy. However, the hypertrophic response to PRT is variable, and this may be due to muscle inflammation susceptibility. Metformin reduces inflammation, so we hypothesized that metformin would augment the muscle response to PRT in healthy women and men aged 65 and older. In a randomized, double-blind trial, participants received 1,700 mg/day metformin (N = 46) or placebo (N = 48) throughout the study, and all subjects performed 14 weeks of supervised PRT. Although responses to PRT varied, placebo gained more lean body mass (p = .003) and thigh muscle mass (p < .001) than metformin. CT scan showed that increases in thigh muscle area (p = .005) and density (p = .020) were greater in placebo versus metformin. There was a trend for blunted strength gains in metformin that did not reach statistical significance. Analyses of vastus lateralis muscle biopsies showed that metformin did not affect fiber hypertrophy, or increases in satellite cell or macrophage abundance with PRT. However, placebo had decreased type I fiber percentage while metformin did not (p = .007). Metformin led to an increase in AMPK signaling, and a trend for blunted increases in mTORC1 signaling in response to PRT. These results underscore the benefits of PRT in older adults, but metformin negatively impacts the hypertrophic response to resistance training in healthy older individuals. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02308228., (© 2019 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Muscle mass and strength are strong determinants of a person's quality of life and functional independence with advancing age. While resistance training is the most effective intervention to combat age-associated muscle atrophy (sarcopenia), the ability of older adults to increase muscle mass and strength in response to training is blunted and highly variable. Thus, finding novel ways to complement resistance training to improve muscle response and ultimately quality of life among older individuals is critical. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a commonly prescribed medication called metformin can be repurposed to improve the response to resistance exercise training by altering the muscle tissue inflammatory environment., Methods/design: Individuals aged 65 and older are participating in a two-site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial testing the effects of metformin or placebo on muscle size, strength, and physical function when combined with a progressive resistance training program. Participants consume 1700 mg of metformin per day or placebo for 2 weeks before engaging in a 14-week progressive resistance training regimen, with continued metformin or placebo. Participants are then monitored post-training to determine if the group taking metformin derived greater overall benefit from training in terms of muscle mass and strength gains than those on placebo. Muscle biopsies are taken from the vastus lateralis at three time points to assess individual cellular and molecular adaptations to resistance training and also changes in response to metformin., Discussion: The response of aged muscles to a resistance training program does not always result in a positive outcome; some individuals even experience a loss in muscle mass following resistance training. Thus, adjuvant therapies, including pharmacological ones, are required to optimize response to training in those who do not respond and may be at increased risk of frailty. This is the first known metformin repurposing trial in non-diseased individuals, aimed specifically at the resistance exercise "non-responder" phenotype present in the aging population. The overall goal of this trial is to determine if combined exercise-metformin intervention therapy will benefit older individuals by promoting muscle hypertrophy and strength gains, thereby maintaining functional independence., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02308228 . Registered on 25 November 2014.