Metabolism Review

Evidence map

Mitochondria: what the evidence base looks like

9 publications, 2 of them trials and 4 syntheses. This page describes the shape of that literature rather than summarising its conclusions.

Updated 3 min read 9 citations

What the evidence on mitochondria is made of Of 9 publications on this topic, the breakdown by study type: 4 meta-analysis, 2 randomised trial, 3 review. 423meta-analysis (4)randomised trial (2)review (3)
9 publications, by study type. Volume is not strength — the same count can be a settled question or a pile of commentary, and which one it is depends almost entirely on this breakdown. Harvested from PubMed and Crossref; publication type as recorded by the source.

What this literature is made of

The synthesis is ahead of the primary literature here — reviews and meta-analyses drawing on a modest number of underlying studies. Treat confident conclusions with the caution the sample size deserves.

The distinction that matters most is between synthesis and primary research. A meta-analysis pools trials and is the closest thing to a settled answer a field produces. A narrative review is one group's reading of the same material and can be selective without being dishonest. Counting them together, which most citation counts do, obscures exactly the thing you want to know.

When the mitochondria literature was published Publication years for the 9 papers on this topic, grouped into bands from before 2015 through to 2023 onwards. 2023 onwards4 papers2020-20224 papers2015-20191 papers
Still active. The most recent paper here is from 2025, so this is a field where an answer written today may not hold for long. Publication years as recorded by PubMed and Crossref.

How this page is built

Everything above is computed from the citations this site harvested from PubMed and Crossref, not written by hand. When the weekly harvest finds a new paper on this topic, these counts change and the characterisation changes with them. That is the point: a hand-written claim about how strong an evidence base is starts decaying the day it is written.

Publication type is taken as the source records it. That is imperfect — journals label inconsistently, and a paper indexed as a "review" may be a systematic one — so treat the bands as approximate. They are accurate enough to distinguish a trial literature from a commentary literature, which is the distinction that matters.

The strongest work on this topic

Ordered by study design first, then recency. The full set is listed in the references below.

  1. Myonectin and metabolic health: a systematic review — Petro JL, Gallo-Villegas J, Calderón JC, 2025, systematic review
  2. Exercise is associated with younger methylome and transcriptome profiles in human skeletal muscle — Voisin S, Seale K, Jacques M et al., 2024, meta-analysis
  3. Does exercise influence skeletal muscle by modulating mitochondrial functions via regulating MicroRNAs? A systematic review — Long YF, Chow SK, Cui C et al., 2023, systematic review
  4. Sarcopenia and peripheral arterial disease: a systematic review — Pizzimenti M, Meyer A, Charles AL et al., 2020, systematic review
  5. Evaluating the Impact of Urolithin A Supplementation on Running Performance, Recovery, and Mitochondrial Biomarkers in Highly Trained Male Distance Runners — Whitfield J, McKay AKA, Tee N et al., 2025, randomised controlled trial
  6. Effect of Urolithin A Supplementation on Muscle Endurance and Mitochondrial Health in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial — Liu S, D'Amico D, Shankland E et al., 2022, randomised controlled trial
  7. Mechanisms of Estrogen Influence on Skeletal Muscle: Mass, Regeneration, and Mitochondrial Function — Pellegrino A, Tiidus PM, Vandenboom R, 2022, review
  8. Skeletal muscle energy metabolism in obesity — Mengeste AM, Rustan AC, Lund J, 2021, review
  9. Maintenance of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria in Health, Exercise, and Aging — Hood DA, Memme JM, Oliveira AN et al., 2019, review
How much research is there on mitochondria?
9 publications are indexed here, of which 2 are trials and 4 are syntheses.
Does more research mean a stronger conclusion?
No. Composition matters more than volume — five randomised trials support a claim far better than fifty commentaries, and citation counts do not distinguish between them.
How current is this?
The most recent paper indexed here is from 2025. The set is refreshed weekly from PubMed and Crossref.
Why does this page not tell me the answer?
Because summarising a literature into a conclusion requires reading it, and doing that automatically is how confident nonsense gets published. This page tells you how much weight a conclusion could bear; the articles on this site do the interpreting.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. Myonectin and metabolic health: a systematic review Petro JL, Gallo-Villegas J, Calderón JC · Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 40741175Full text
  2. Exercise is associated with younger methylome and transcriptome profiles in human skeletal muscle Voisin S, Seale K, Jacques M, et al. · Aging cell · 2024 · Meta-analysis DOIPubMed 37128843Full text
  3. Does exercise influence skeletal muscle by modulating mitochondrial functions via regulating MicroRNAs? A systematic review Long YF, Chow SK, Cui C, et al. · Ageing research reviews · 2023 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 37652311
  4. Sarcopenia and peripheral arterial disease: a systematic review Pizzimenti M, Meyer A, Charles AL, et al. · Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2020 · Systematic review DOIPubMed 32648665Full text
  5. Evaluating the Impact of Urolithin A Supplementation on Running Performance, Recovery, and Mitochondrial Biomarkers in Highly Trained Male Distance Runners Whitfield J, McKay AKA, Tee N, et al. · Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 40839339Full text
  6. Effect of Urolithin A Supplementation on Muscle Endurance and Mitochondrial Health in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial Liu S, D'Amico D, Shankland E, et al. · JAMA network open · 2022 · Randomised controlled trial DOIPubMed 35050355Full text
  7. Mechanisms of Estrogen Influence on Skeletal Muscle: Mass, Regeneration, and Mitochondrial Function Pellegrino A, Tiidus PM, Vandenboom R · Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022 · Review DOIPubMed 35907119
  8. Skeletal muscle energy metabolism in obesity Mengeste AM, Rustan AC, Lund J · Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2021 · Review DOIPubMed 34464025
  9. Maintenance of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria in Health, Exercise, and Aging Hood DA, Memme JM, Oliveira AN, et al. · Annual review of physiology · 2019 · Review DOIPubMed 30216742