“If vitamin D is insufficient, there is a great possibility that muscle strength and function will decrease”

Australian Institute of Medicine “Vitamin D deficiency leads to decreased mitochondrial function”
“Prevention of vitamin D deficiency in the elderly reduces muscle loss and maintains muscle function”


Studies have shown that lack of vitamin D increases the likelihood of losing muscle strength and function.

This is because the lack of vitamin D reduces the function of the mitochondria, which is the’energy factory’ of muscle cells.

According to a UPI news report on the 17th, a research team led by Dr. Andrew Pilff, head of the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Department at the Gavan Medical Research Center in Australia, revealed this through a mouse experiment.

The research team induces vitamin D deficiency by dividing a group of mice into two groups, giving group A a diet containing vitamin D and group B a diet containing no vitamin D.

Then, monthly muscle tissue and blood samples from these groups of mice were taken to measure vitamin D and calcium levels, and to evaluate mitochondrial function markers in muscle cells.

As a result, the blood levels of vitamin D in group A mice were maintained at the normal level of 30 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter), whereas the blood vitamin D in group B mice was only 3 ng/mL.

In humans, vitamin D blood levels must be 40-50 ng/mL to be healthy, and 12 ng/mL or less are severe deficiency.

After 3 months, the skeletal muscle function of group B mice decreased by up to 37%.

However, the research team found that it was not due to decreased mitochondrial number or muscle mass.

This suggests that the cause of the decrease in the amount of energy produced by muscles due to a lack of vitamin D, the research team interpreted.

Thus, preventing vitamin D deficiency in older people could help reduce the risk of sarcopenia, a gradual loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength, and help maintain muscle function, the researchers said.

Mitochondria are parts outside the nucleus of the cell, which serve as a’power plant’ that supplies energy to the cell, and have their own DNA apart from the cell nucleus.

Because vitamin D is synthesized in the body through the skin exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, it is nicknamed’sunshine vitamin’. Through this, 90% of the vitamin D needed by our body is supplied.

Vitamin D is found in fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel, liver, egg yolk, and cheese. It can also be consumed through cereals, milk, and supplements with vitamin D added.

The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Endocrinology.

Lee Seung-gu, online news reporter [email protected]

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]

.Source