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Metabolism

Dysfunctional lipid metabolism in ageing muscle: effects on glucose tolerance

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 20, page 192 (2024)Cite this article

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A new study published in Nature Aging has found that a previously overlooked lipid metabolic pathway is dysfunctional in ageing skeletal muscle and this deficiency could affect systemic glucose metabolism.

Compared with young mice (6 months old), aged mice (24 months old) showed considerable downregulation of the levels of Gpcpd1 mRNA in skeletal muscle, alongside a notable accumulation of GPC. To study the physiological effect of GPCPD1 deficiency, several tissue-specific mouse models were generated, including muscle, liver or adipose tissue Gpcpd1-deficient mice. Interestingly, only the muscle-specific Gpcpd1-deficient mice showed a phenotype of severely impaired glucose metabolism. Moreover, in muscle-specific Gpcpd1-deficient mice, the effects on glucose intolerance were worsened by feeding the mice a Western-style diet (either a high sugar or high fat diet).

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Original article

  • Cikes, D. et al. Gpcpd1–GPC metabolic pathway is dysfunctional in aging and its deficiency severely perturbs glucose metabolism. Nat. Aging. 4, 80–94 (2024)

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  1. Nature Reviews Endocrinology http://www.nature.com/nrendo/

    Shimona Starling

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  1. Shimona Starling
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Correspondence to Shimona Starling.

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Starling, S. Dysfunctional lipid metabolism in ageing muscle: effects on glucose tolerance. Nat Rev Endocrinol 20, 192 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-024-00960-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-024-00960-6

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