Serum biomarkers for age-related loss of muscle mass and function in independent older adults

Age-related loss of muscle mass, plus low muscle strength and/or poor physical performance, lead to sarcopenia in the elderly 1. Herein, we assayed blood parameters regarding energetic metabolism, muscle performance, inflammation/infection, and systemic oxidative stress to identify risk factors for sarcopenia in mostly independent elderly. Participants for this cross-sectional study were randomly selected from the FRADEA cohort (Frailty and Dependence in Albacete) 2. The prevalence of sarcopenia was 35.3 % in women and 13.1 % in men, and intimately associated with advanced age, low functional performance and weekly consumption of kilocalories, risk for malnutrition and drug use for the digestive system. Notably, clinical conditions of pre-frailty and depression significantly impacted on sarcopenia. Additionally, lipid peroxidation and lymphopenia were always intimately associated with sarcopenia independently of different confounding variables such as frailty. In a final multivariate logistic model adjusted for different covariates, we included high values of lipid peroxidation, low levels of lymphocytes, the pre-frailty phenotype and a depressive mood, which predicts 67.6 % of the variance of sarcopenia with a power of discrimination of 93.8 %.  Thus, these serum parameters could be useful biomarkers for sarcopenia in mostly independent elderly, especially in clinical situations of pre-frailty and a depressive mood.