Aerobic exercise training as therapy for cardiac and cancer cachexia

Abstract

Aerobic exercise training (AET) induces several skeletal muscle changes, improving aerobic exercise capacity and health. Conversely, to the positive effects of AET, the cachexia syndrome is characterized by skeletal muscle wasting. Cachexia is a multifactorial disorderassociated with other chronic diseases such as heart failure and cancer. In these diseases, an overactivation of ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy systems associated with a reduction in protein synthesis culminates in severe skeletal muscle wasting and, in the last instance, patient's death. In contrast, AET may recycle and enhance many protein expression and enzyme activities, counteracting metabolism impairment and muscle atrophy. Therefore, the aim of the current review was to discuss the supposed therapeutic effects of AET on skeletal muscle wasting in both cardiac and cancer cachexia.

Keywords: Autophagy; Heart failure; Muscle atrophy; Muscle wasting; Myopathy; Proteasome.