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Effects of 16 months of high intensity resistance training on thigh muscle fat infiltration in elderly men with osteosarcopenia

GeroScience volume 43, pages 607–617 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Osteosarcopenia is characterized by a progressive decline in muscle function and bone strength and associated with muscle fat accumulation. This study aimed to determine the effect of long-term high intensity resistance training (HIRT) on thigh muscle fat infiltration in older men with osteosarcopenia. Forty-three community-dwelling men (72 years and older) were randomly assigned to either an exercise group (EG, n = 21) or an inactive control group (CG, n = 22). EG participants performed a supervised single-set exercise training with high effort two times per week. Participants of both groups were individually provided with dietary protein to reach a cumulative intake of 1.5–1.6 g/kg/day or 1.2–1.3 g/kg/day (EG/CG), respectively, and Up to 10,000 IE/week of Vitamin-D were supplemented in participants with 25 OH Vitamin-D 3 levels below 100 nmol/l. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed to determine muscle and adipose tissue volume and fat fraction of the thigh. At baseline, there were no significant differences between the two groups. After 16 month,, there were significant training effects of 15% (p = 0.004) on intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) volume, which increased in the CG (p = 0.012) and was stable in the EG. In parallel, fat fraction within the deep fascia of the thigh (Baseline, EG: 18.2 vs CG: 15.5, p = 0.16) significantly differed between the groups (Changes, EG: 0.77% vs. CG: 7.7%, p = 0.009). The study confirms the role of fat infiltration of the muscles as an advanced imaging marker in osteosarcopenia and the favorable effects of HIRT on adipose tissue volume of the thigh, in men with osteosarcopenia.

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Notes

  1. E.g., maximum effort minus 1–3 reps; defined as non-repetition maximum: “Set endpoint when trainees completed a pre-determined number of repetitions despite the fact that further repetitions could be completed.”

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Acknowledgments

The present work was performed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the PhD degree Dr. rer. biol. hum. at the Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. We thank the Imaging Science Institute (Erlangen, Germany) for providing us with measurement time at the 3T MRI system. This work was in part supported by the Bavarian State Ministries for Science and Arts and for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy through the European Regional Development Fund, within the “Center for Locomotion Research” Project granted to the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Wuerzburg (project lead FJ).

Funding

The study was funded internally.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Institute of Medical Physics, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Henkestr. 91, 91052, Erlangen, Germany

    Mansour Ghasemikaram, Armin M. Nagel & Wolfgang Kemmler

  2. Department of Medicine III, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, University Hospital Erlangen, Ulmenweg 18, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Oliver Chaudry & Klaus Engelke

  3. Institute of Radiology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and University Hospital Erlangen, Maximiliansplatz 3, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Armin M. Nagel & Michael Uder

  4. Bernhard-Heine-Center for Locomotion Research, University of Würzburg, Brettreichstrasse 11, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Franz Jakob

  5. Faculty Medical and Life Sciences, University of Furtwangen, Neckarstrasse 1, 78054, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany

    Matthias Kohl

Authors
  1. Mansour Ghasemikaram
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  2. Oliver Chaudry
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  3. Armin M. Nagel
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  4. Michael Uder
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  5. Franz Jakob
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  6. Wolfgang Kemmler
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  7. Matthias Kohl
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  8. Klaus Engelke
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Contributions

Study design: WK, FJ, and KE; Exercise training and related data collection: MG and WK; MR imaging: AN, MU, and OC; MR image analysis: OC and KE; Data analysis: MG and WK, Statistics: MK; Generation of manuscript: MG, KE, and WK; Review of manuscript: all.

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Correspondence to Mansour Ghasemikaram.

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Ghasemikaram, M., Chaudry, O., Nagel, A.M. et al. Effects of 16 months of high intensity resistance training on thigh muscle fat infiltration in elderly men with osteosarcopenia. GeroScience 43, 607–617 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-020-00316-8

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Keywords

  • Aging
  • Intermuscular adipose tissue
  • IMAT
  • Osteoporosis
  • Sarcopenia
  • Magnetic resonance imaging
  • Exercise