Hoseo University Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering Develops Sarcopenia Treatment

Joint Development with Venture Company YoumustR&D Co., Ltd.

The research team from Hoseo University’s Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, in collaboration with the venture company Youmust R&D Co., Ltd., has succeeded in developing a treatment for sarcopenia. Photo of the research team.

Hoseo University announced on the 27th that its Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering research team, in collaboration with the venture company YoumustRND Co., Ltd., has developed a new injectable formulation of a 'sarcopenia treatment.'

Sarcopenia is a disease caused by a decrease in muscle cells due to aging, reduced physical activity, malnutrition, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) officially classified sarcopenia as a disease in 2016, there are still no approved treatment drugs available.

The research team developed a sustained-release injectable formulation by loading camphor, a terpene compound, into PLGA, a biocompatible polymer. Camphor, which has been used as a preservative and anti-inflammatory agent, was shown to have a mechanism for inhibiting sarcopenia. By utilizing PLGA, the team increased the water solubility of camphor, which is otherwise difficult to dissolve in water, and controlled the drug release in a sustained manner to complete the injectable formulation.

The research team explained, "When the newly formulated camphor-PLGA microspheres were injected into mice with induced muscle atrophy, they significantly reduced the MURF-1 factor that induces muscle atrophy, demonstrating excellent improvement in muscle atrophy."

Meanwhile, the results of this research were published online in the August 16, 2024 edition of Macromolecular Research, an authoritative SCIE international journal in the field of polymers.