Early overfeeding speeds muscle loss and shortens life in mice

In experiments using different mouse models of both sexes, researchers tested how overfeeding during early life affected health in older age. Neonatally overfed mice had shorter lifespans, greater metabolic dysfunction, and accelerated sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle. Early overfeeding disrupted the development of goblet cells, leaving lasting gut barrier defects that reduced levels of the gut bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila in older mice. This loss reduced production of acetate, impairing muscle mitochondria—structures that produce energy in cells—at least in part by suppressing GPR43 signalling. Faecal microbiota transplants passed the muscle-wasting condition to recipient mice. Restoring A. muciniphila or supplementing older mice with acetate restored mitochondrial balance and improved muscle performance.