Impact of low relative skeletal muscle mass and power on the development of metabolic syndrome in Japanese women: a 7-year prospective study

Abstract

Previous cross-sectional studies indicated that low relative skeletal muscle mass against body weight (appendicular lean mass divided by body weight, ALM/Wt or divided by body mass index, ALM/BMI) was negatively associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the impact of low relative skeletal muscle mass and leg muscle power on the development of MetS in Japanese women in a 7-y prospective study. Subjects were 346 Japanese women aged 26 to 85 years. The reference values for Class I sarcopenia were defined as values one SD below the sex-specific means of the young group. The longitudinal relation between muscle mass or leg power and development of MetS was examined using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models (average follow-up duration 7 years, range 1 to 10 years). During follow-up, 24 of subjects developed MetS. Both indices of ALM/Wt or ALM/BMI, the incidence of MetS was higher in Class I sarcopenia group than normal muscle mass group even after controlling variables (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 3.22 [95%CI; 1.25-8.27] for ALM/Wt and 3.19 [95%CI; 1.31-7.74] for ALM/BMI). In contrast, for the leg power per body weight, the incidence of MetS was not significantly different between low leg power and normal leg power groups (AHR = 1.23 [95%CI; 0.50-3.04]). Current longitudinal study indicated that low relative skeletal muscle mass but not low leg power was independent risk factors for the development of MetS in Japanese women.

Muscle Quality Index in Morbidly Obesity Patients Related to Metabolic Syndrome Markers and Cardiorespiratory Fitness

“…In accordance with our results, it has been reported that Low-MQI is associated with a cluster of MetS markers that included SBP and elevated WC [55]. In addition, another study reported that low relative skeletal muscle was associated with a higher risk of MetS [40]. Another retrospective cohort study indicated that low muscle quality and quantity incremented the incidence of MetS [56].…”

“…In this sense, recent evidence indicated that MetS markers such as blood pressure and fasting blood glucose were linked with muscle strength and physical fitness [12]. Yamada et al [40] found a longitudinal link between low skeletal muscle and the development of MetS. In a complementary way, it has been shown that obese subjects had a high prevalence of poor MQI [41], and poor muscle quality can lead to the development of MetS [42].…”