Change of skeletal muscle mass in patients with pheochromocytoma

• Published in: Journal of bone and mineral metabolism Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 694 - 702
• Main Authors: Lee, Seung Hun, Kwak, Mi Kyung, Ahn, Seong Hee, Kim, Hyeonmok, Cho, Yoon Young, Suh, Sunghwan, Song, Kee-Ho, Koh, Jung-Min, Kim, Jae Hyeon, Kim, Beom-Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01.07.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms - pathology; Adrenal Gland Neoplasms - urine; Body composition; Body fat; Catecholamines; Female; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic Diseases; Metabolites; Metanephrine - urine; Middle Aged; Muscle, Skeletal - pathology; Musculoskeletal system; Normetanephrine - urine; Odds Ratio; Organ Size; Original Article; Orthopedics; Pheochromocytoma; Pheochromocytoma - pathology; Pheochromocytoma - urine; Sarcopenia; Skeletal muscle; Sarcopenia; Pheochromocytoma; Catecholamine; Skeletal muscle
• ISSN: 0914-8779; 1435-5604; 1435-5604
• DOI: 10.1007/s00774-018-0959-3

The effects of catecholamine excess due to pheochromocytoma on body composition, including skeletal muscle mass, are unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of catecholamine metabolites on body composition in subjects with pheochromocytoma. After body compositions using bioelectrical impedance analysis, urinary metanephrine (UM), and urinary normetanephrine (UNM) were measured in 16 patients with pheochromocytoma and 224 patients with nonfunctioning adrenal incidentaloma (NFAI), we compared skeletal muscle mass and fat mass (FM) between the two groups. After adjustments for confounders, UM ( β  = − 0.171, P  = 0.006) and UNM ( β  = − 0.249, P  < 0.001) levels were correlated inversely with skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), but not FM or percentage FM (pFM), in all subjects. Patients with pheochromocytoma had lower ASM by 7.7% ( P  = 0.022) and SMI by 6.6% ( P  = 0.001) than patients with NFAI. Conversely, FM and pFM were not statistically different between the two groups. The odds ratio for low skeletal muscle mass in the presence of pheochromocytoma was 10.33 (95% confidence interval, 2.65–40.22). Our results indicate that patients with pheochromocytoma have a reduced skeletal muscle mass and suggest that catecholamine excess has adverse effects on skeletal muscle metabolism.