Go-sha-jinki-Gan (GJG), a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, protects against sarcopenia in senescence-accelerated mice

Abstract Sarcopenia is characterized by age-associated skeletal muscle atrophy and reduced muscle strength; currently, no pharmaceutical treatment is available. Go-sha-jinki-Gan (GJG) is a traditional Japanese herbal medicine that is used to alleviate various age-related symptoms, especially motor disorders. Here, we investigated the effect of GJG on aging-associated skeletal muscle atrophy by using senescence-accelerated mice (SAMP8). Immunohistochemical and western blotting analyses clearly showed that GJG significantly reduced the loss of skeletal muscle mass and ameliorated the increase in slow skeletal muscle fibers in SAMP8 mice compared to control mice. The expression levels of Akt and GSK-3β, the phosphorylation of FoxO4, and the phosphorylations of AMPK and mitochondrial-related transcription factors such as PGC-1α were suppressed, while the expression of MuRF1 increased in SAMP8 mice, but approximated that in senescence-accelerated aging-resistant (SAMR1) mice after GJG treatment. We demonstrate for the first time that GJG has a therapeutic effect against sarcopenia.