Researchers from the University of Iowa have identified a protein that causes age-related muscle weakness and loss, as well as two natural compounds that reduce this protein’s activity.

Share on Pinterest Tomatidine, one of the two compounds that inhibit ATF4, can be found naturally occurring in green tomatoes.

The study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first example of a protein associated with age-related muscle wasting, and could lead toward new forms of treatment.

“Many of us know from our own experiences that muscle weakness and atrophy are big problems as we become older,” states senior study author Dr. Christopher Adams, professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

Despite the fact that aging can reduce muscle mass and strength is common knowledge, the mechanisms behind this decline have remained unknown.

However, from this new study, the research team concludes that the protein ATF4 is an essential mediator of muscle aging. ATF4 is a transcription factor that influences the expression of certain genes in skeletal muscle, in turn, reducing the strength, mass and synthesis of muscle protein.

Previously, Dr. Adams and colleagues identified two natural compounds that prevent muscle wasting caused by inactivity and starvation. These compounds were ursolic acid, found in apple peel, and tomatidine, found in green tomatoes.

These findings prompted the team to investigate whether the compounds were also capable of preventing muscle wasting caused by aging, using elderly mice with age-related muscle weakness and atrophy.