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Longevity supplements › Urolithin A and Muscle › Studies

Systematic review

Review of 5 studies in 250 people: better strength and endurance, but not function

Kuerec and colleagues · Ageing research reviews · 2024

Original title: Targeting aging with urolithin A in humans: A systematic review.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Mixed

Across 250 people, urolithin A increased muscle strength and endurance but not physical function, body measures or heart outcomes. It did not change maximal mitochondrial energy (ATP) production. Unrelated adverse events were mild or moderate.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Systematic review
Who or what was studied
5 studies, 250 people · 250 healthy people in five studies
What was tested
Urolithin A at 10 to 1000 mg a day for 28 days to 4 months
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Who has a stake
No stake declared
Funding disclosed from the Lien Foundation (not a company). No company tie stated.
Journal
Ageing research reviews, 2024
Source
PubMed record 39002645. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • •Sums up 5 studies found with a set search method, without pooling the numbers.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a systematic review, and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: muscle strength and endurance

    0

    Not done yet. This is the step that would answer the question.

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    4

    3 mixed, 1 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  6. Animals

    2

    2 benefit

  7. Cells in a dish

    1

    1 no direction

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does urolithin A improve muscle health with age?”

Unclear: small trials, mixed results.

Confidence: very low. Based on 9 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer
  • Quoted in “What we found”: A 2024 review said urolithin A raised strength and endurance; a 2026 pooled analysis called those results exploratory and found no clear walking gain.
  • Part of the finding “Markers moved, but energy output did not”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Reviewed five studies in 250 healthy people taking 10-1000 mg/day for 28 days to 4 months, without pooling. Urolithin A raised muscle strength and endurance but not physical function, and did not change maximal mitochondrial ATP production.
  • Open item for a person: Reviews Kuerec 2024 and Dao 2026 likely include trials Singh 2022 and Liu 2022; avoid counting the same trials twice.

Other reviews on this question

See all 9 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The reviewer corrected 4 fields after reading the abstract. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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