title: Quercetin protects against obesity-induced skeletal muscle inflammation and atrophy.
abstract: Skeletal muscle inflammation and atrophy are closely associated with metabolic impairment such as insulin resistance. Quercetin, a natural polyphenol flavonoid, is known to elicit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. In this study, we investigated its effect on obesity-induced skeletal muscle inflammation and atrophy in mice. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a regular diet, a high-fat diet (HFD), and an HFD supplemented with quercetin for nine weeks. Quercetin reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines and macrophage accumulation in the skeletal muscle of the HFD-fed obese mice. It also reduced transcript and protein levels of the specific atrophic factors, Atrogin-1 and MuRF1, in the skeletal muscle of the HFD-fed obese mice, and protected against the reduction of muscle mass and muscle fiber size. In vitro, quercetin markedly diminished transcript levels of inflammatory receptors and activation of their signaling molecules (ERK, p38 MAPK, and NF-κB) in cocultured myotubes/macrophages, and this was accompanied by reduced expression of the atrophic factors. Together, these findings suggest that quercetin reduces obesity-induced skeletal muscle atrophy by inhibiting inflammatory receptors and their signaling pathway. Quercetin may be useful for preventing obesity-induced muscle inflammation and sarcopenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ngoc Hoan
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chu-Sook
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Taesun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition and Research Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology, Hallym University, Chuncheon 200-702, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Han Yoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul 140-742, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Kyung
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Gun
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Myung
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Suck-Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawada
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D011794:Quercetin / Q000737:chemistry*; D044843:SKP Cullin F-Box Protein Ligases / Q000378:metabolism; D055948:Sarcopenia / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000070584:Tripartite Motif Proteins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D016207:Cytokines; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D000070584:Tripartite Motif Proteins; D011794:Quercetin; C486691:Fbxo32 protein, mouse; D044843:SKP Cullin F-Box Protein Ligases; C499084:Trim63 protein, mouse; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases