Age‐related changes in skeletal muscle reactive oxygen species generation and adaptive responses to reactive oxygen species

Skeletal muscle generates superoxide and nitric oxide at rest and this generation is increased by contractile activity. In young and adult animals and man, an increase in activities of these species and the secondary products derived from them (reactive oxygen species, ROS) stimulate redox‐sensitive signalling pathways to modify the cellular content of cytoprotective regulatory proteins such as the superoxide dismutases, catalase and heat shock proteins that prevent oxidative damage to tissues. The mechanisms underlying these adaptive responses to contraction include activation of redox‐sensitive transcription factors such as nuclear factor κB (NFκB), activator protein‐1 (AP1) and heat shock factor 1 (HSF1). During ageing all tissues, including skeletal muscle, demonstrate an accumulation of oxidative damage that may contribute to loss of tissue homeostasis. The causes of this increased oxidative damage are uncertain, but substantial data now indicate that the ability of skeletal muscle from aged organisms to respond to an increase in ROS generation by increased expression of cytoprotective proteins through activation of redox‐sensitive transcription factors is severely attenuated. This age‐related lack of physiological adaptations to the ROS induced by contractile activity appears to contribute to a loss of ROS homeostasis and increased oxidative damage in skeletal muscle.