Myostatin inhibition: a potential performance enhancement strategy?

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Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2008 Feb 1

Myostatin inhibition: a potential performance enhancement strategy?

Fedoruk MN, Rupert JL.

School of Human Kinetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,

British Columbia, Canada.

A decade has passed since myostatin was first identified as a

negative regulator of muscle growth. Since then, studies in both

humans and animals have demonstrated that decreasing the levels of

this growth factor or inhibiting its function can dramatically

increase muscle size, and a number of therapeutic applications of

myostatin inhibition to the treatment of myopathies and muscle

atrophy have been proposed.

As such treatments would be likely to also stimulate muscle growth in

healthy individuals, there is a growing concern among anti-doping

authorities that myostatin inhibitors may be among the next

generation of ergogenic pharmaceuticals or even in the vanguard

of " gene doping " technology.

While the ability to stimulate muscle growth through myostatin

inhibition is well documented, a growing body of evidence suggests

such increases may not translate into an improvement in athletic

performance.

This article briefly reviews the function of this potent regulator of

muscle development and explores the potential therapeutic uses, and

potential ergogenic abuses, of myostatin manipulation.