INTRODUCTION: sarcopenia is characterized by loss of muscle mass and its function and is associated with a number of systemic diseases and disorders that affect the elderly. It is also one of the parameters used to define the frailty syndrome, which is highly prevalent among the elderly, conferring upon them greater risk for falls, fractures, disability, dependency, recurrent hospitalization and mortality. Recently there have been reports in the literature showing that the pathogenesis of sarcopenia is closely related to the breakdown of oxidative metabolism's homeostasis, leading to an increased rate of production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing mitochondrial damage, altering the immune and inflammatory system, resulting in muscle fibers' denervation, loss and atrophy and ensuing loss of muscle strength. OBJECTIVE: to perform a narrative review on the role of oxidative stress in the etiology of sarcopenia. METHOD: narrative review. Were searched databases like MEDLINE, LILACS and Scielo. The searches were made through the expressions: sarcopenia and ageing, elderly muscular mass loss, oxidative stress, inflammation and sarcopenia and epidemiology and sarcopenia. Results: the etiology of sarcopenia is multifactorial and involves interaction of several factors, including genetic, metabolic and life style factors, such as eating habits (protein intake) and energy expenditure (physical activity), and the EROs play a key role in mediating the process of mass and muscle function loss associated with ageing. CONCLUSION: over the course of the ageing process the oxidative stress becomes more dangerous, since, associated with the decline of sexual hormones and life style which exert anabolic effects on the musculoskeletal tissue, may accelerate it the loss and atrophy.
Sarcopenia; Musculoskeletal System; Metabolism; Inflammation; Aging
