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Research Paper|Volume 13, Issue 12|pp 16567—16576

Reduced stem cell aging in exercised human skeletal muscle is enhanced by ginsenoside Rg1

Tania Xu Yar Lee1, Jinfu Wu1,4, Wei-Horng Jean2, Giancarlo Condello1, Ahmad Alkhatib1,3, Chao-Chieh Hsieh1, Yu-Wen Hsieh1, Chih-Yang Huang5,6,7,8, Chia-Hua Kuo1
  • 1Laboratory of Exercise Biochemistry, University of Taipei, Taipei City 11153, Taiwan, ROC
  • 2Department of Anesthesiology, Far East Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City 220, Taiwan, ROC
  • 3School of Health and Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, England, United Kingdom
  • 4Laboratory of Regenerative Medicine in Sports Science, School of Physical Education & Sports Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
  • 5Cardiovascular and Mitochondrial Related Disease Research Center, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien 970, Taiwan, ROC
  • 6Center of General Education, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Tzu Chi University of Science and Technology, Hualien 970, Taiwan, ROC
  • 7Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan, ROC
  • 8Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung 404, Taiwan, ROC
Received: March 29, 2021Accepted: May 31, 2021Published: June 28, 2021
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203176

Copyright: © 2021 Lee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Background: Stem cell aging, characterized by elevated p16INK4a expression, decreases cell repopulating and self-renewal abilities, which results in elevated inflammation and slow recovery against stress.

Methods: Biopsied muscles were analyzed at baseline and 24 h after squat exercise in 12 trained men (22 ± 2 y). Placebo (PLA) and immunostimulant Rg1 (5 mg) were supplemented 1 h before a squat exercise, using a double-blind counterbalanced crossover design.

Results: Perceived exertion at the end of resistance exercise session was significantly lowered after Rg1 supplementation. Exercise doubled endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) (p < 0.001) and decreased p16INK4a mRNA to 50% of baseline (d = 0.865, p < 0.05) in muscle tissues, despite p16INK4a+ cell and beta-galactosidase+ (ß-Gal+) cell counts being unaltered. Rg1 further lowered p16INK4a mRNA to 35% of baseline with greater effect size than the PLA level (d = 1.302, p < 0.01) and decreased myeloperoxidase (MPO) mRNA to 39% of baseline (p < 0.05). A strong correlation between MPO and p16INK4a expression in muscle tissues was observed (r = 0.84, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: EPC in skeletal muscle doubled 1 d after an acute bout of resistance exercise. The exercised effects in lowering EPC aging and tissue inflammation were enhanced by immunostimulant Rg1, suggesting the involvement of immune stimulation on EPC rejuvenation.