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Original researchEvidence: Preclinical

MOTS-c is an exercise-induced mitochondrial-encoded regulator of age-dependent physical decline and muscle homeostasis

Reynolds J. C., Lai R. W., Woodhead J. S. T. et al.

MOTS-c improved physical performance in young, middle-aged and old mice, even when treatment began late in life. In humans, the endogenous peptide rose in muscle and blood after exercise.

Key points

  • In mice aged 2, 12 and 22 months, MOTS-c increased physical performance.
  • Intermittent treatment started only at 23.5 months improved grip strength, gait and running capacity; the effect on lifespan remained a statistically borderline trend.
  • In ten young men, MOTS-c rose about twelvefold in skeletal muscle and about one and a half times in plasma after exercise, returning to baseline in blood after four hours of rest.

Assessment

Evidence type: preclinical, with observational human data. The effect findings come from mouse models. The human measurements only show that exercise raises the endogenous peptide; they say nothing about administered MOTS-c. Profile: MOTS-c.