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A cross-sectional study of sarcopenia in Japanese men and women: reference values and association with cardiovascular risk factors

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Abstract

In this study of Japanese men and women, we determine reference values for sarcopenia and test the hypothesis that sarcopenia is associated with risk factors for cardiovascular disease, independent of waist circumference. A total of 1,488 Japanese men and women aged 18–85 years participated in this study. Appendicular muscle mass (AMM) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Reference values for classes 1 and 2 sarcopenia (skeletal muscle index: AMM/height2, kg m−2) in each sex were defined as values one and two standard deviations below the sex-specific means of reference values obtained in this study from young adults aged 18–40 years. The reference values for class 1 and class 2 sarcopenia were 7.77 and 6.87 kg m−2 in men and 6.12 and 5.46 kg m−2 in women. In subjects both with class 1 and class 2 sarcopenia, body mass index and % body fat were significantly lower than in normal subjects. Despite whole-blood glycohaemoglobin A1c in men with class 1 sarcopenia was significantly higher than in normal subjects, and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in women both with class 1 and class 2 sarcopenia were significantly higher than in normal subjects, using one-way ANCOVA with adjustment for the covariate of waist circumference. Although sarcopenia is associated with thin body mass, it is associated with more glycation of serum proteins in men and with greater arterial stiffness in women, independent of waist circumference.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the subjects who participated in this study. This study was supported in part by “Establishment of Consolidated Research Institute for Advanced Science and Medical Care”; the “Encouraging Development Strategic Research Centers Program”; the Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan; and a grant from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Noji Higashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan

    K. Sanada

  2. Consolidated Research Institute for Advanced Science and Medical Care, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    K. Sanada & K. Yamamoto

  3. National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan

    M. Miyachi, M. Tanimoto, K. Yamamoto, H. Murakami & I. Tabata

  4. ROHTO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan

    S. Okumura

  5. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Japan

    Y. Gando, K. Suzuki & M. Higuchi

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  1. K. Sanada
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  2. M. Miyachi
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  4. K. Yamamoto
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Correspondence to K. Sanada.

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Communicated by Susan Ward.

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Sanada, K., Miyachi, M., Tanimoto, M. et al. A cross-sectional study of sarcopenia in Japanese men and women: reference values and association with cardiovascular risk factors. Eur J Appl Physiol 110, 57–65 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1473-z

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