BackgroundThe aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of sarcopenia and investigate the associations between sarcopenia and long‐term mortality and readmission in a population of elderly inpatients in acute care wards.MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational study in the acute care wards of a teaching hospital in western China. The muscle mass was estimated according to a previously validated anthropometric equation. Handgrip strength was measured with a handheld dynamometer, and physical performance was measured via a 4 m walking test. Sarcopenia was defined according to the recommended diagnostic algorithm of the Asia Working Group for Sarcopenia. The survival status and readmission information were obtained via telephone interviews at 12, 24, and 36 months during the 3 year follow‐up period following the baseline investigation.ResultsTwo hundred and eighty‐eight participants (mean age: 81.1 ± 6.6 years) were included. Forty‐nine participants (17.0%) were identified as having sarcopenia. This condition was similar in men and women (16.9% vs. 17.5%, respectively, P = 0.915). During the 3 year follow‐up period, 49 men (22.7%) and 9 women (16.4%) died (P = 0.307). The mortality of sarcopenic participants was significantly increased compared with non‐sarcopenic participants (40.8% vs. 17.1%, respectively, P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex and other confounders, sarcopenia was an independent predictor of 3 year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio: 2.49; 95% confidential interval: 1.25–4.95) and readmission (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.81; 95% confidential interval: 1.17–2.80).ConclusionsSarcopenia, which is evaluated by a combination of anthropometric measures, gait speed, and handgrip strength, is valuable to predict hospital readmission and long‐term mortality in elderly patients in acute care wards.

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A new term, malnutrition-sarcopenia syndrome (MSS), was recently coined to describe the clinical presentation of both malnutrition and sarcopenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between MSS and long-term mortality in older inpatients. We conducted a prospective study in acute geriatric wards of two local hospitals in China. Muscle mass and malnutrition were estimated by anthropometric measures and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Of the 453 participants, 14 (3.1%) had sarcopenia with normal nutrition, 139 (30.7%) had malnutrition risk without sarcopenia, 48 (10.6%) had malnutrition risk with sarcopenia, 25 (5.5%) had malnutrition without sarcopenia, and 22 (4.9%) had MSS at baseline. Compared with non-sarcopenic subjects with normal nutrition, subjects with MSS and subjects with malnutrition risk and sarcopenia were more than four times more likely to die (hazard ratio [HR], 4.78; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.09–10.97; and HR, 4.25; 95% CI, 2.22–8.12, respectively); non-sarcopenic subjects with malnutrition risk were more than two times more likely to die (HR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.32–4.39). In conclusion, MSS may serve as a prognostic factor in the management of hospitalized older patients.

Increasing evidence demonstrated that long non-coding RNA ANRIL serves as a fatal oncogene in many cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, little is known whether ANRIL regulated NPC cell radioresistance. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to examine the expression of lncRNA ANRIL and miR-125a in NPC tissues and cell lines. MTT assay was conducted to measure the cell viability of CNE2 and HONE1 cells. The apoptotic rate of CNE2 and HONE1 cells was determined by flow cytometry analysis. Colony survival was determined by clonogenic assay. Luciferase reporter assay was performed to verity the direct target of miR-125a. LncRNA ANRIL was evidently elevated in NPC tissues and cell lines. ANRIL inhibition suppressed proliferation, induced apoptosis, and enhanced radiosensitivity in NPC. Moreover, ANRIL could negatively modulate miR-125a expression. Furethermore, ANRIL upregulation reserved the inhibited proliferation, induced apoptosis, and enhanced radiosensitivity triggered by miR-125a overexpression. The expression of lncRNA ANRIL was upregulated in NPC tissues and cells. Moreover, knockdown of ANRIL repressed proliferation, promoted apoptosis, and improved radiosensitivity in NPC via functioning as a miR-125a sponge.

Both sleep disorders and sarcopenia are common among older adults. However, little is known about the relationship between these 2 conditions.This study aimed to investigate the possible association between sleep duration and sarcopenia in a population of Chinese community-dwelling older adults.Community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or older were recruited. Self-reported sleep duration, anthropometric data, gait speed, and handgrip strength were collected by face-to-face interviews. Sarcopenia was defined according to the recommended algorithm of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS).We included 607 participants aged 70.6 ± 6.6 years (range, 60–90 years) in the analyses. The prevalence of sarcopenia in the whole study population was 18.5%. In women, the prevalence of sarcopenia was significantly higher in the short sleep duration group (< 6 hours) and long sleep duration group (>8 hours) compared with women in the normal sleep duration group (6–8 hours; 27.5%, 22.2% and 13.9%, respectively; P = .014). Similar results were found in men; however, the differences between groups were not statistically significant (18.5%, 20.6%, and 13.0%, respectively; P = .356). After adjustments for the potential confounding factors, older women having short sleep duration (OR: 4.34; 95% CI: 1.74–10.85) or having long sleep duration (OR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.05–6.99) had greater risk of sarcopenia compared with women having normal sleep duration. With comparison to men with normal sleep duration, the adjusted OR for sarcopenia was 2.12 (0.96–8.39) in the short sleep duration group and 2.25 (0.88–6.87) in the long sleep duration group, respectively.A U-shape relationship between self-reported sleep duration and sarcopenia was identified in a population of Chinese community-dwelling older adults, especially in women.