ReviewCurrent osteoporosis reports2013
Myostatin--the holy grail for muscle, bone, and fat?
Review in Current osteoporosis reports, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of exercise in older adults with osteosarcopenic adiposity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Age-dependent musculoskeletal changes during mechanical unloading with bisphosphonate treatment.Bone · 2026Article
- Cardiopulmonary and skeletal muscle strategies underlying exhaustive exercise in adults with glycogen storage disease type III.Physiological reports · 2026Article
- Role of Myokines on the Bone Metabolism of Craniofacial Region: A Scoping Review.Dentistry journal · 2025Review
- Aging insights from heterochronic parabiosis models.npj aging · 2024Review
- Pathogenesis of Sarcopenia in Chronic Kidney Disease-The Role of Inflammation, Metabolic Dysregulation, Gut Dysbiosis, and microRNA.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Longitudinal association between muscle and bone loss: Results of US and Japanese cohort studies.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2024Article
- Equine Asthma Does Not Affect Circulating Myostatin Concentrations in Horses.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Inflammatory synovial biomarkers and state of the tibiofemoral joint in the post-surgical settings: a narrative review.Annals of joint · 2024Review
- Extract ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Research advances in crosstalk between muscle and bone in osteosarcopenia (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2023Review
- Article
- Article
- Enhanced Muscle Fibers ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Renal failure suppresses muscle irisin expression, and irisin blunts cortical bone loss in mice.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2022Article
- Sarcopenia and bone health: new acquisitions for a firm liaison.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2022Review
- Association between myostatin serum concentration and body fat level in peri- and postmenopausal women.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2022Article
- Article
- Osteosarcopenia School.Journal of frailty, sarcopenia and falls · 2021Article
- MOTS-c reduces myostatin and muscle atrophy signaling.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily, was first described in 1997. Since then, myostatin has gained growing attention because of the discovery that myostatin inhibition leads to muscle mass accrual. Myostatin not only plays a key role in muscle homeostasis, but also affects fat and bone. This review will focus on the impact of myostatin and its inhibition on muscle mass/function, adipose tissue and bone density/geometry in humans. Although existing data are sparse, myostatin inhibition leads to increased lean mass and 1 study found a decrease in fat mass and increase in bone formation. In addition, myostatin levels are increased in sarcopenia, cachexia and bed rest whereas they are increased after resistance training, suggesting physiological regulatory of myostatin. Increased myostatin levels have also been found in obesity and levels decrease after weight loss from caloric restriction. Knowledge on the relationship of myostatin with bone is largely based on animal data where elevated myostatin levels lead to decreased BMD and myostatin inhibition improved BMD. In summary, myostatin appears to be a key factor in the integrated physiology of muscle, fat, and bone. It is unclear whether myostatin directly affects fat and bone, or indirectly via muscle. Whether via direct or indirect effects, myostatin inhibition appears to increase muscle and bone mass and decrease fat tissue-a combination that truly appears to be a holy grail. However, at this time, human data for both efficacy and safety are extremely limited. Moreover, whether increased muscle mass also leads to improved function remains to be determined. Ultimately potential beneficial effects of myostatin inhibition will need to be determined based on hard outcomes such as falls and fractures.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.