Thursday May 29, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking grape seed extract (GSE) supplements may help prevent muscle wasting or muscle atrophy, according to a new study in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Muscle atrophy can be caused by muscle inflammation resulting from cancers, AIDS, other chronic disease and aging, according to the report.

Grape seed extract has been widely used as a dietary supplement to promote health and prevent diseases due to its antioxidative and anti-inflammation effects.  The current study suggests that GSE may also help muscle health.

For the study, mice with interleukin (IL)-10 gene knocked out at the age of six weeks were allowed to drink water either without GSE or 0.1% GSE for 12 weeks.  Wild mice were treated in the same way as controls. Skeletal muscle was sampled to determine the effect of grape seed extract supplementation.

The IL-10 knockout mice had much lower tibialis anterior muscle than wild-type mice.  It was found that in those mice, "nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kappaB) signaling and inflammasome formation" were elevated, compared to wild-type mice.

The GSE supplementation on the other hand minimized the adverse condition observed in those mice that did not receive the grape seed extract supplement.   As a result, GSE supplementation enhanced muscle mass, reduced protein degradation and apoptosis in IL10 knockout mice.

The study suggests “GSE can be used as an auxiliary treatment for muscle loss associated with chronic inflammation and frailty."  (David Liu, Ph.D.)

Reference

Grape seed extract prevents skeletal muscle wasting in interleukin 10 knockout mice

Bo Wang, Guan Yang, Xingwei Liang, Mei J Zhu and Min Du

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2014, 14:162  doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-162