Genes & Nutrition · 6 authors, 1 centre
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This preclinical study used fruit flies to investigate how the muscle FOXO gene influences the protective effects of exercise against age-related muscle and heart damage from a high-salt diet. The central result was that muscle FOXO activity is essential for exercise to counteract these salt-induced defects by regulating specific metabolic and antioxidant pathways.
This study used Drosophila melanogaster models with muscle-specific overexpression or knockdown (RNAi) of the FOXO gene to examine its role in exercise (E) protection against high-salt intake (HSI)-induced age-related defects in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Methods included measuring climbing ability, heart function, tissue structure, oxidative stress (ROS), and activity of FOXO/PGC-1α/SDH and FOXO/SOD pathways. Key results showed exercise reversed HSI-induced declines in climbing ability and FOXO expression. FOXO-RNAi accelerated age-related declines in muscle/heart function and structure, while FOXO-overexpression slowed them, linked to respective inhibition or activation of the studied pathways. Crucially, the protective effect of exercise on muscle and heart was blocked by FOXO-RNAi. FOXO-overexpression extended lifespan but did not prevent HSI-induced lifespan shortening, whereas exercise did not improve lifespan in FOXO-RNAi flies.
