Abstract
Age-associated chronic, low grade systemic inflammation has been recognised as an important contributing factor in the development of sarcopenia; importantly, diet may regulate this process. This cross-sectional study examined the association of diet-related inflammation with components of sarcopenia. Participants (n = 809) aged 60–95 years from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study were studied. Body composition was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. In this study, low appendicular lean mass (ALM/height2, kg/m2) was defined as T-score < −1 and low muscle function as Timed-Up-and-Go >10 s over 3 m (TUG > 10). Dietary inflammatory index (DII®) scores, based on specific foods and nutrients, were computed using dietary data collected from a food frequency questionnaire. Associations between DII scores and low muscle mass and low muscle function, alone and combined, were determined using linear and logistic regression. After adjusting for covariates, higher DII score was associated with lower ALM/height2 (β −0.05, standard error (SE) 0.02, p = 0.028), and higher natural log-transformed (ln) (TUG) (β 0.02, standard error 0.01, p = 0.035) and higher likelihood for these components combined (odds ratio 1.33, 95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.69, p = 0.015). A pro-inflammatory diet, as indicated by higher DII score, is associated with lower muscle mass, poorer muscle function and increased likelihood for the combination of low muscle mass and low muscle function. Further studies investigating whether anti-inflammatory dietary interventions could reduce the risk of sarcopenia are needed.
Highlights
We propose that chronic inflammation is a contributor to sarcopenia and that the inflammatory potential of the diet has a regulatory role on chronic inflammation and sarcopenia
No differences were detected in proportions of men and women with low muscle mass and low muscle function combined (8.6% vs. 10.9%, p = 0.31)
In a longitudinal study with 494 female participants aged 21 to 89 years from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study (GOS), while the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) was not predictive of skeletal muscle index (ALM/height2 ) significance increased with adjustment; suggesting a higher DII score was associated with increases in skeletal muscle index [23]
Summary
Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass and function with age, is an important underlying cause of physical disability and frailty, leading to increased risk of falls and fractures, nursing home admission, hospitalisation, decreased quality of life and mortality [1,2,3]. In Australia, sarcopenia prevalence has been estimated to be 2.9% for men and 5.9% for women aged 60 to 96 years [5]. With the ageing of populations, the overall prevalence and number of individuals with sarcopenia is expected to increase. This will present an ever-increasing greater burden on the health care system; making it ever more important to identify novel modifiable risk factors for the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia [8]
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