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One of the signs of advancing age in humans is sarcopenia. The term is used to define the loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with ageing. Sarcopenia contributes to the decreased capacity of independent living and increased amounts of traumas. Numbers of mechanisms are proposed as a cause of sarcopenia, including changes in protein metabolism, alterations in hormonal and neural functions, impaired regeneration after contraction-induced injuries, mitochondrial abnormalities, oxidative stress and apoptosis in skeletal muscle fibres. Further studies on the mechanisms leading to sarcopenia could provide the basis for prevention and establishment of therapeutic methods that would contribute to an increase in the standard of living among elderly people.

Cachexia has long been recognized as serious complication of chronic illness. Cardiac cachexia is a syndrome of generalised wasting which carries a poor prognosis of the chronic heart disease. Characteristic features of cachexia include the activation of the immune system associated with raised plasma concentriations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF(alpha) and other plasma cytokines. Another crucial issue is muscle wasting through the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. The prevention or attenuation of disease related skeletal muscle degeneration has been a common goal in the treatment of cardiac cachexia.