Omega‐3 fatty acid supplementation attenuates skeletal muscle disuse atrophy during two weeks of unilateral leg immobilization in healthy young women

What is it about?

During periods of immobilization, such as those experienced during times of illness or injury there is a substantial loss of skeletal muscle mass. The loss of muscle mass that occurs with muscle-disuse occurs rapidly and is particularly difficult to recover. There is evidence that supplementing the diet with omega-3 fatty acids can slow the loss of muscle mass with muscle-disuse in rats, but no data exist in humans. In the present study, we demonstrated that 4 weeks of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation attenuated the loss of muscle mass and size in young women undergoing 2 weeks of lower limb immobilization. The attenuation of muscle loss coincided with higher rates of muscle protein synthesis. Importantly, in the group that consumed the omega-3 fatty acid, the losses in muscle mass and volume were recovered to before immobilization levels after 2 weeks of return to normal activity whereas in the control group they did not. Thus, our data suggest that omega-3 supplementation may be an effective treatment in combatting muscle-disuse-atrophy in humans.

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