Trial reportNature medicine2018
The exerkine apelin reverses age-associated sarcopenia.
Trial report in Nature medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 249 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
249 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 361 citations in OpenAlex.
- Myonectin and metabolic health: a systematic review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of preterm birth on muscle mass and function: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Infusion of young donor plasma components in older patients modifies the immune and inflammatory response to surgical tissue injury: a randomized clinical trial.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Trial
- A First-in-Human Study of AMG 986, a Novel Apelin Receptor Agonist, in Healthy Subjects and Heart Failure Patients.Cardiovascular drugs and therapy · 2023Trial
- Seawater Hydration Modulates IL-6 and Apelin Production during Triathlon Events: A Crossover Randomized Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Myokines and mitochondrial function in cardiometabolic diseases.Journal of physiology and biochemistry · 2026Review
- How muscle talks to brain: apelin protein mediates exercise-induced antidepressant effects.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Developing Metal-Polyphenol Network-Based Single-Protein Particle Encapsulation System for Sustained Release of Whey Protein to Mitigate Sarcopenia.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Article
- Review
- Validation and refinement of a biomarker panel for frailty assessment and prediction of muscle weakness in older adults.npj aging · 2026Article
- Apelin-13 Pretreatment Attenuates Age-Associated Renal Fibrotic Remodeling Following I/R Injury.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Strengthening muscle for healthy ageing: innovative treatments for sarcopenia.Nature reviews. Drug discovery · 2026Review
- Review
- Contracting myografts mimic exercise response.Nature aging · 2026Article
- The Importance of the Gut-Muscle Axis: From Mechanistic Insights in Cell Culture and Rodent Models to Descriptive and Associative Evidence in Livestock.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Loss of LCN2 Function Ameliorates Glucocorticoid-Induced Muscle Atrophy via Remodeling the Extracellular Matrix.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Astrocytic apelin mediates cortical neuronal function and prevents anxiety-like behaviors in mice.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2026Article
- The Impact of Ageing on Skeletal Muscle: Roles of Mitochondrial Dysregulation, Systemic Communication, and Exercise.Journal of cellular physiology · 2026Review
189 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
28 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sarcopenia, the degenerative loss of skeletal muscle mass, quality and strength, lacks early diagnostic tools and new therapeutic strategies to prevent the frailty-to-disability transition often responsible for the medical institutionalization of elderly individuals. Herein we report that production of the endogenous peptide apelin, induced by muscle contraction, is reduced in an age-dependent manner in humans and rodents and is positively associated with the beneficial effects of exercise in older persons. Mice deficient in either apelin or its receptor (APLNR) presented dramatic alterations in muscle function with increasing age. Various strategies that restored apelin signaling during aging further demonstrated that this peptide considerably enhanced muscle function by triggering mitochondriogenesis, autophagy and anti-inflammatory pathways in myofibers as well as enhancing the regenerative capacity by targeting muscle stem cells. Taken together, these findings revealed positive regulatory feedback between physical activity, apelin and muscle function and identified apelin both as a tool for diagnosis of early sarcopenia and as the target of an innovative pharmacological strategy to prevent age-associated muscle weakness and restore physical autonomy.
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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.