Elderly subjects with type 2 diabetes show altered tissue electrical properties

• Published in: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 132 - 137
• Main Authors: Buffa, Roberto, Saragat, Bruno, Succa, Valeria, Ruggiu, Rossella, Carboni, Luciano, Putzu, Paolo F., Marini, Elisabetta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 01.01.2013; Elsevier; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Aging - pathology; Aging - physiology; bioelectrical impedance; Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis; Biological and medical sciences; blood; blood glucose; Blood Glucose - metabolism; blood sampling; Body Composition; Body Mass Index; Case-Control Studies; complications; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - pathology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - physiopathology; Diabetes. Impaired glucose tolerance; Disease; Elderly; Electric Impedance; Electrical properties; Endocrine pancreas. Apud cells (diseases); Endocrinopathies; etiology; Etiopathogenesis. Screening. Investigations. Target tissue resistance; Extracellular/intracellular water; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Females; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; Glycated Hemoglobin; Glycated Hemoglobin A - metabolism; glycohemoglobin; hips; Hospitals; Humans; Impedance; Male; Medical sciences; men; metabolism; Middle Aged; noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; Older people; pathology; patients; physiology; physiopathology; Sarcopenia; Sarcopenia - etiology; Sex Characteristics; Skinfold Thickness; Type 2 diabetes; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; waist; Waist-Hip Ratio; waist-to-hip ratio; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance - etiology; Weight control; women; Womens health; Type 2 diabetes; Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis; Extracellular/intracellular water; Elderly; Body composition; Endocrinopathy; Water; Human; Electrical properties; Metabolic diseases; Extracellular; Intracellular; Impedance
• ISSN: 0899-9007; 1873-1244; 1873-1244
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2012.05.007

The aim of the present research was to show the characteristics of body composition in a sample of elderly subjects with type 2 diabetes compared with healthy controls matched by age and body mass index (BMI) by bioelectrical impedance vector analysis. The sample consisted of 144 free-living patients (84 women and 60 men) with type 2 diabetes 60 to 84 y old and 209 age-matched controls (116 women and 93 men). Anthropometric measurements (weight; height; upper arm, hip, waist, and calf circumferences; biceps; triceps; and subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds) were taken. Blood samples for the assessment of plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin were collected. The BMI, upper arm muscular area, and waist-to-hip ratio were calculated. Bioelectrical impedance vector analysis was applied. The analysis was performed in the entire diabetic sample and the healthy BMI-matched groups. Compared with healthy subjects, patients had greater weight (P < 0.01 in women), higher BMI (P < 0.01 in women), smaller muscular area (P < 0.01 in men), and thicker skinfolds (P < 0.01 in women and men). Female and male patients showed larger phase angles (P < 0.01). Moreover, female patients showed a shorter vector length and lower resistance (P < 0.01) and male patients showed a higher reactance (P < 0.01). The BMI-matched analysis confirmed that patients were characterized by larger phase angles. Older patients with type 2 diabetes were characterized by peculiar anthropometric and bioelectrical patterns, which can be related to their smaller appendicular muscular area and lower extracellular/intracellular water ratio.