Abstract
BackgroundAlthough individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis are a major sarcopenic population, there are few methods to assess their skeletal muscle mass conveniently. Here, we investigated the usefulness of serum myostatin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) measurements for the evaluation of skeletal muscle mass.MethodsWe examined 117 patients undergoing conventional hemodialysis. The serum myostatin level and IGF-1 level were measured once and compared to clinical parameters (especially skeletal muscle mass-related factors) in hemodialysis patients.ResultsThe myostatin levels were positively correlated with body cell mass, arm muscle circumference, basal metabolic rate, creatinine, creatinine phosphokinase, and albumin and negatively correlated with body fat rate, arm circumference–arm muscle circumference, age, and C-reactive protein (CRP). The IGF-1 levels were positively correlated with body cell mass, body mass index, arm muscle circumference, arm circumference–arm muscle circumference, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, protein catabolism rate, transferrin, cholesterol, and triglyceride, and negatively with age and human atrial natriuretic polypeptide.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that serum myostatin might be a useful biomarker for predicting muscle mass and serum IGF-1 might be a useful predictor of nutritional status in hemodialysis patients.
Highlights
Individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis are a major sarcopenic population, there are few methods to assess their skeletal muscle mass conveniently
We investigated the relationships among the serum myostatin level, serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) level, and clinical parameters in hemodialysis patients
The serum IGF-1 level had positive correlations with both body cell mass (BCM) and fat mass; that is, the patients’ serum IGF-1 levels were positively correlated with their total body mass. These results indicate that the serum myostatin level appears to be a marker of skeletal muscle mass and that the serum IGF-1 level could be a marker of body constitution
Summary
Individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis are a major sarcopenic population, there are few methods to assess their skeletal muscle mass conveniently. We investigated the usefulness of serum myostatin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) measurements for the evaluation of skeletal muscle mass. Decreased muscle mass and strength caused by chronic inflammatory disease, a malignant tumor, or chronic kidney disease are represented by the same concept as sarcopenia. Individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis are a major population among patients with sarcopenia [1]. Despite the increasing number of individuals with sarcopenia among hemodialysis patients, few methods are available for assessing a patient’s skeletal muscle mass expeditiously and conveniently. X-ray absorptiometry are gold-standard methods to measure muscle mass precisely, but they require the use of radiation equipment and take time to measure. A bioimpedance analysis is comparatively easy to use and generates reproducible results, but not all institutions possess the necessary bioimpedance equipment [2]
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