Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11362, Saudi Arabia.
Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Nutrients. 2022 Apr 29;14(9):1855. doi: 10.3390/nu14091855.
Sarcopenia is the loss of skeletal muscle mass, and is most common in older people. The present multi-center cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of sarcopenia and possible risk factors among Arab elderly females. A total of 131 ambulatory Saudi elderly females aged 60-85 years (mean age 65.9 ± 5.5 years) were recruited to participate. A general questionnaire with questions related to sociodemographic factors, medical history, diet, physical activity, and lifestyle was administered. Anthropometrics and muscle assessments were done. Fasting blood glucose and lipids were measured routinely. Circulating 25(OH)D and irisin levels were measured using commercially available assays. Sarcopenia was assessed using the criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS). Over-all prevalence of sarcopenia was 19.8% (26 out of 131 participants). Novel measures such as abdominal volume index (AVI), dietary fiber, and irisin were found to be significantly lower in the sarcopenia group than those without sarcopenia, independent of age. No associations were found with physical activity or dietary and lifestyle habits. In conclusion, sarcopenia is relatively common among Arab elderly females. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether lifestyle modifications can decrease the incidence of sarcopenia in this population. Irisin maybe a promising biomarker for sarcopenia but needs to be confirmed using larger sample sizes.
肌少症是骨骼肌质量的丧失，最常见于老年人。本多中心横断面研究旨在确定阿拉伯老年女性肌少症的患病率和可能的危险因素。共招募了 131 名 60-85 岁（平均年龄 65.9 ± 5.5 岁）的沙特阿拉伯活动自如的老年女性。进行了一般问卷调查，内容涉及社会人口统计学因素、病史、饮食、身体活动和生活方式。进行了人体测量和肌肉评估。常规测量空腹血糖和血脂。使用市售试剂盒测量循环 25(OH)D 和鸢尾素水平。使用亚洲肌少症工作组（AWGS）的标准评估肌少症。肌少症的总体患病率为 19.8%（131 名参与者中有 26 名）。在排除年龄因素后，发现肌少症组的腹部容量指数（AVI）、膳食纤维和鸢尾素等新指标明显低于无肌少症组。与身体活动或饮食和生活方式习惯没有关联。总之，肌少症在阿拉伯老年女性中较为常见。需要进行纵向研究，以确定生活方式的改变是否可以降低该人群肌少症的发生率。鸢尾素可能是肌少症的有前途的生物标志物，但需要使用更大的样本量进行证实。
