Abstract
Several lines of evidence have recently established that skeletal muscle is an endocrine organ producing and releasing myokines acting in a paracrine or endocrine fashion. Among these, the newly identified myokine Irisin, produced by skeletal muscle after physical exercise, was originally described as molecule able to promote energy expenditure in white adipose tissue. Recently, it has been shown that the myokine Irisin affects skeletal metabolism in vivo. Thus, mice treated with a micro-dose of r-Irisin displayed improved cortical bone mass, geometry and strength, resembling the effect of physical activity in developing an efficient load-bearing skeleton. Further studies highlighted the autocrine effect of Irisin on skeletal muscle, and research performed in humans has definitively established that Irisin is a circulating hormone-like myokine, increased by physical activity. Albeit there are still few, since Irisin has been very recently discovered, herein are summarized the most relevant research findings published on this topic.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by an ERISTO grant (to M.G.), a MIUR grant ex60% (to M.G.) and a SIOMMMS grant (to G.C.).
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M. Grano, S. Cinti, Dr. Mongelli, S. Colucci and G. Colainni report grants from ERISTO, grants from MIUR ex60%, and grants from SIOMMMS, during the conduct of the study. In addition, S. Cinti, S. Colucci and G. Colainni have a patent, MI2015A000558.
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All studies by the authors involving animal and/or human subjects were performed after approval by the appropriate institutional review boards. When required, written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Muscle and Bone
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Colaianni, G., Mongelli, T., Colucci, S. et al. Crosstalk Between Muscle and Bone Via the Muscle-Myokine Irisin. Curr Osteoporos Rep 14, 132–137 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-016-0313-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11914-016-0313-4