Background
Sarcopenia is characterized by a decline in muscle mass, strength and physical performance with age, which can cause many hazards to the elderly. The etiology of sarcopenia is complex and diverse, including chronic inflammation and neuromuscular junction damage. The pathogenesis of sarcopenia is still unclear. This study attempts to identify biomarkers related to sarcopenia from the above two aspects.
Methods
From March 2019 to March 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of 127 elderly patients at Zhejiang Hospital affiliated to Zhejiang University. This study compared demographic data, living habits, nutritional status, disease status, frailty grade and anthropometric data of sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia participants, and measured serum interleukin-6(IL-6), Interleukin-10(IL-10), Interleukin-1β(IL-1β) and C-terminal agrin fragment(CAF) levels using commercial ELISA kits.
Results
Our study revealed significant differences in age, marital status, coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, nutritional status, frailty, and body mass index(BMI) in the elderly between the sarcopenia and nonsarcopenia groups. IL-1β levels in the sarcopenia group were significantly higher than those in the non-sarcopenia group. Moreover, IL-1β was associated with sarcopenia, low skeletal muscle index (SMI), low grip strength, and and low gait speed. IL-6 was associated with low grip strength, and IL-10 was associated with low grip strength, and and low gait speed. CAF was associated with low grip strength. In multivariate analysis, IL-1β was the independent risk factor for sarcopenia low grip strength and low gait speed, and CAF was the independent risk factors for low grip strength.
Conclusion
The results of the present study suggest that plasma level of IL-1β maybe a promising biomarker for sarcopenia but further study is needed to comfirm the findings and the physiological role of IL-1β in sarcopenia.