Evidence mapPaperPMID 39466960Full record

ArticleExperimental physiology2025

Ageing leads to selective type II myofibre deterioration and denervation independent of reinnervative capacity in human skeletal muscle.

Oscar Horwath, Marcus Moberg, Sebastian Edman, Andrew Philp, William Apró

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Experimental physiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Muscle fibre denervation in ageing.Clinical science (London, England : 1979) · 2026
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  12. Does Time Tick Faster in Cerebral Palsy? Accelerated Aging as a Framework for Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
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  18. Molecular Framework of the Onset and Progression of Skeletal Muscle Aging.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Oscar HorwathDepartment of Physiology, Nutrition and Biomechanics, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-3500-2896
Marcus MobergDepartment of Physiology, Nutrition and Biomechanics, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-3747-0148
Sebastian EdmanDepartment of Physiology, Nutrition and Biomechanics, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-2921-833X
Andrew PhilpCentre for Healthy Ageing, Centenary Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3860-4136
William ApróDepartment of Physiology, Nutrition and Biomechanics, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-1942-2919

Funding

European Research Council (ERC) 707336The Ake Wiberg Foundation M17-0259The Elisabeth and Gunnar Liljedahl FoundationThe Lars Hiertas Memorial Foundation FO2017-0325
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Age-related loss of muscle mass and function is underpinned by changes at the myocellular level. However, our understanding of the aged muscle phenotype might be confounded by factors secondary to ageing per se, such as inactivity and adiposity. Here, using healthy, lean, recreationally active, older men, we investigated the impact of ageing on myocellular properties in skeletal muscle. Muscle biopsies were obtained from young men (22 ± 3 years, n = 10) and older men (69 ± 3 years, n = 11) matched for health status, activity level and body mass index. Immunofluorescence was used to assess myofibre composition, morphology (size and shape), capillarization, the content of satellite cells and myonuclei, the spatial relationship between satellite cells and capillaries, denervation and myofibre grouping. Compared with young muscle, aged muscle contained 53% more type I myofibres, in addition to smaller (-32%) and misshapen (3%) type II myofibres (P < 0.05). Aged muscle manifested fewer capillaries (-29%) and satellite cells (-38%) surrounding type II myofibres (P < 0.05); however, the spatial relationship between these two remained intact. The proportion of denervated myofibres was ∼2.6-fold higher in old than young muscle (P < 0.05). Aged muscle had more grouped type I myofibres (∼18-fold), primarily driven by increased size of existing groups rather than increased group frequency (P < 0.05). Aged muscle displayed selective deterioration of type II myofibres alongside increased denervation and myofibre grouping. These data are key to understanding the cellular basis of age-related muscle decline and reveal a pressing need to fine-tune strategies to preserve type II myofibres and innervation status in ageing populations.

Indexed as

AgingMuscle Fibers, Fast-TwitchMuscle, SkeletalAdultAgedCapillariesHumansMaleMiddle AgedMuscle DenervationSatellite Cells, Skeletal MuscleYoung Adultageinghuman skeletal muscleNCAMPax7sarcopenia

Identifiers

PMID39466960
PMCPMC11782179

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.