In addition to its role in movement, human skeletal muscle also plays important roles in physiological activities related to metabolism and the endocrine system. Aging and disease onset and progression can induce the reduction of skeletal muscle mass and function, thereby exacerbating skeletal muscle atrophy. Recent studies have confirmed that skeletal muscle atrophy is mainly controlled by the balance between protein synthesis and degradation, the activation of satellite cells, and mitochondrial quality in skeletal muscle. Circadian rhythm is an internal rhythm related to an organism’s adaptation to light-dark or day-night cycles of the planet, and consists of a core biological clock and a peripheral biological clock. Skeletal muscle, as the most abundant tissue in the human body, is an essential part of the peripheral biological clock in humans. Increasing evidence has confirmed that maintaining a normal circadian rhythm can be beneficial for increasing protein content, improving mitochondrial quality, and stimulating regeneration and repairing of cells in skeletal muscle to prevent or alleviate skeletal muscle atrophy. In this review, we summarize the roles and underlying mechanisms of circadian rhythm in delaying skeletal muscle atrophy, which will provide a theoretical reference for incorporating aspects of circadian rhythm to the prevention and treatment of skeletal muscle atrophy.

除了在运动中的作用外，人体骨骼肌在与代谢和内分泌系统有关的生理活动中也起着重要作用。衰老以及疾病的发作和发展会诱导骨骼肌质量和功能的降低，从而加剧骨骼肌萎缩。最近的研究证实，骨骼肌萎缩主要受蛋白质合成与降解，卫星细胞活化以及骨骼肌线粒体质量之间的平衡控制。昼夜节律是与生物适应行星的明暗或昼夜循环有关的内部节律，它由一个核心生物钟和一个外围生物钟组成。骨骼肌是人体中最丰富的组织，是人体外围生物钟的重要组成部分。越来越多的证据证实，维持正常的昼夜节律对增加蛋白质含量，改善线粒体质量，刺激骨骼肌细胞再生和修复以预防或减轻骨骼肌萎缩有益。在这篇综述中，我们总结了昼夜节律在延迟骨骼肌萎缩中的作用和潜在机制，这将为将昼夜节律的各个方面纳入骨骼肌萎缩的预防和治疗提供理论参考。