Background There were limited studies specifically evaluating whether the difference of the prevalence of sarcopenia exists in men and women in older adults from rural areas in China. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of sarcopenia between men and women in a rural area in eastern China and to explore the underlying causes. Methods This study included 1,105 participants aged 60-89 years. Muscle mass was measured by bio-electrical impedance analysis. Hand grip strength was measured by Jamar Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia-2019 Consensus. Data were analyzed using log-binomial and linear regression. Results The prevalence of sarcopenia was 21.7% in women and 12.9% in men among the study cohort. After adjusting for age, education level, number of diseases, income level, smoking, drinking, and eating habits, proportion of people with sarcopenia was 1.49-fold greater in women than in men (PR = 1.49, 95% CI [1.01–2.26], P = 0.055). Conclusions The prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly women in this rural area of eastern China is higher than in men, suggesting that women in rural areas in China seem to be more vulnerable for sarcopenia, thus early screening and prevention need to be provided for them to address such gender disparity in health.

Background Tongue coating is an important health indicator in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The tongue coating microbiome can distinguish disease patients from healthy controls. To study the relationship between different types of tongue coatings and health, we analyzed the species composition of different types of tongue coatings and the co-occurrence relationships between microorganisms in Chinese adults. From June 2019 to October 2020, 158 adults from Hangzhou and Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, were enrolled. We classified the TCM tongue coatings into four different types: thin white tongue fur (TWF), thin yellow tongue fur (TYF), white greasy tongue fur (WGF), and yellow greasy tongue fur (YGF). Tongue coating specimens were collected and used for 16S rRNA gene sequencing using the Illumina MiSeq system. Wilcoxon rank-sum and permutational multivariate analysis of variance tests were used to analyze the data. The microbial networks in the four types of tongue coatings were inferred independently using sparse inverse covariance estimation for ecological association inference. Results The microbial composition was similar among the different tongue coatings; however, the abundance of microorganisms differed. TWF had a higher abundance of Fusobacterium periodonticum and Neisseria mucosa, the highest α-diversity, and a highly connected community (average degree = 3.59, average closeness centrality = 0.33). TYF had the lowest α-diversity, but the most species in the co-occurrence network diagram (number of nodes = 88). The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) was associated with tongue coating (P = 0.035), and the YGF and TYF groups had higher PLR values. In the co-occurrence network, Aggregatibacter segnis was the “driver species” of the TWF and TYF groups and correlated with C-reactive protein (P < 0.05). Streptococcus anginosus was the “driver species” in the YGF and TWF groups and was positively correlated with body mass index and weight (P < 0.05). Conclusion Different tongue coatings have similar microbial compositions but different abundances of certain bacteria. The co-occurrence of microorganisms in the different tongue coatings also varies. The significance of different tongue coatings in TCM theory is consistent with the characteristics and roles of the corresponding tongue-coating microbes. This further supports considering tongue coating as a risk factor for disease.

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Background:Gut microbial communities are likely remodeled along with accumulated physiological decline during aging. Here, we performed a metagenomics-based enterotype analysis in a geographically homogeneous cohort of 367 enrolled Chinese individuals between the ages of 60 and 94, with the goal of characterizing the gut microbiome of the older Chinese individuals and identifying factors linked to enterotype variations.Results:In addition to two adult-like enterotypes were dominated by Bacteroides spp. (ET-Bacteroides spp.) and Prevotella copri (ET-P. copri), we further identified a novel enterotype dominated by Escherichia coli (ET-E. coli), whose prevalence increased in advanced age. ET-E. coli presented some characteristics previously observed in the microbiomes of older people, including low species diversity and diminished abundance of the butyrate producer Faecalibacterium prausnitzii (F. prausnitzii), and exhibited distinct functions as well as a complex, highly stable microbial co-occurrence network, as evidenced by cohesion and natural connectivity analysis. Furthermore, a series of correlation analyses and co-abundance network analyses were carried out and showed that several factors were likely linked to the overabundance of Escherichia members, including advanced age, different vegetable, and fruit intake. Notably, there may be a niche pre-emption of E. coli by P. copri in ET-P. copri via several functional pathways involved in queuosine, braided glycoside, UMP, L-lysine and aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. Overall, our data demonstrated that age explained more of the variance in the gut microbiome than previously identified factors such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and diet. Overgrowth of Escherichia members might occur in a senior's gut where the dominance of core functional microbiota was impaired by long-term changes in dietary habits, gut physiology, and gastrointestinal motility during aging.Conclusion:This study demonstrates an enterotype variation featured by E. coli enrichment in some older Chinese individuals, indicating a potential dissimilation of the gut microbial community with altered host conditions eventually leading to enterotype transitions in advanced age. These findings provide new insights into the changes in the gut microbiome in older age and clues for mechanistic investigations on the driving forces.