Presence of sarcopenia identifies a special group of lean NAFLD in middle-aged and older people
Background Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, is closely associated and frequently concomitant with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to investigate the clinical features of the sarcopenic NAFLD patients from middle-aged and older people. Methods A total...
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Published in | Hepatology international Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 313 - 325 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New Delhi
Springer India
01.04.2023
Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, is closely associated and frequently concomitant with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to investigate the clinical features of the sarcopenic NAFLD patients from middle-aged and older people.
Methods
A total of 1305 patients with NAFLD from the Shanghai Changfeng Study were included for analysis. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the height-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM/height
2
). We comprehensively analyzed the metabolic phenotype, carotid artery condition, liver fibrosis score, and serum metabolomic profile of each participant.
Results
Among the middle-aged and older population, 68.1% of patients with sarcopenia and NAFLD were lean. Sarcopenia was independently associated with increased risk of carotid plaque (OR, 2.22; 95%CI 1.23–4.02) and liver fibrosis (OR, 2.07; 95%CI 1.24–3.44), and the sarcopenic lean NAFLD patients were characterized by a higher risk of carotid plaque (
p
= 0.008) and liver fibrosis (
p
= 0.001) than the non-sarcopenic lean NAFLD patients, despite their lower BMI and similar prevalence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Further serum metabolomic examination indicated that the sarcopenic lean NAFLD patients presented a distinct metabolomic profile prone to carotid plaque and liver fibrosis, with upregulated serum valine, N-acetylneuraminyl-glycoproteins, lactic acid, small LDL triglycerides and VLDL5 components, and reduced components of HDL4. A sarcopenic characterization score based on above metabolites was established and could also predict increased risk of carotid plaque and liver fibrosis.
Conclusion
The presence of sarcopenia identifies a special subgroup of lean NAFLD with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and liver fibrosis clinically.
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1936-0533 1936-0541 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s12072-022-10439-z |