Coffee consumption promotes skeletal muscle hypertrophy and myoblast differentiation

Food Funct. 2018 Feb 21;9(2):1102-1111. doi: 10.1039/c7fo01683b.

Abstract

Coffee is a widely consumed beverage worldwide and is believed to help prevent the occurrence of various chronic diseases. However, the effect of coffee on skeletal muscle hypertrophy, differentiation and the mechanisms of action responsible have remained unclear. To investigate the effect of coffee on skeletal muscle hypertrophy, mice were fed a normal diet or a normal diet supplemented with 0.3% coffee or 1% coffee. Coffee supplementation was observed to increase skeletal muscle hypertrophy, while simultaneously upregulating protein expression of total MHC, MHC2A, and MHC2B in quadricep muscle. Myostatin expression was also attenuated, and IGF1 was upregulated with subsequent phosphorylation of Akt and mTOR, while AMPK phosphorylation was attenuated. Coffee also increased the grip strength and PGC-1α protein expression, and decreased the expressions of TGF-β and myostatin in tricep muscle. Coffee activated the MKK3/6-p38 pathway and upregulated PGC-1α, which may play a role in promoting myogenic differentiation and myogenin expression in C2C12 cells. These results suggest that coffee increases skeletal muscle function and hypertrophy by regulating the TGF-β/myostatin - Akt - mTORC1.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Coffee / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Hypertrophy
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / genetics
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Muscle Development / drug effects*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / drug effects
  • Muscle, Skeletal / growth & development*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / pathology
  • Myoblasts / cytology*
  • Myoblasts / metabolism
  • Phosphorylation
  • Plant Extracts / metabolism*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism
  • Sarcopenia / diet therapy
  • Sarcopenia / genetics
  • Sarcopenia / metabolism*
  • Sarcopenia / pathology
  • Signal Transduction
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / genetics
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism

Substances

  • Coffee
  • Plant Extracts
  • Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
  • TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases