A Combination of Serum Biomarkers in Elderly Patients with Sarcopenia: A Cross-sectional Observational Study.

Background: The pathogenesis of sarcopenia in the elderly has not yet been fully understood. This study aimed to explore the relationship between sarcopenia and several serum biomarkers in elderly population. Methods: It was an observational cross‐sectional study of data collected from 70 patients (>60 years old, 61.4% men) .According to the criteria of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS), subjects were divided into a sarcopenia group and a non-sarcopenic group.We compared age, body mass index (BMI) ,biochemical indexes, skeletal muscle mass, handgrip strength (HS), gait speed (GS), skin-fold thickness, muscle thickness, bone mineral density(BMD) and IL-6,IL-10,IL-17A ,TNF-α levels between these groups. Results: Of the 70 subjects, 35 patients were diagnosed with sarcopenia according to the AWGS criteria. The number of men was higher than that of women in both groups. The patients with sarcopenia were older and had lower BMI and muscle thickness, but higher SARC-F questionnaire scores. However, the difference in BMD and skin-fold thickness between these two groups was not statistically significant. Higher IL-6, IL-17A, and TNF-α levels were observed in participants with sarcopenia (P < 0.05). Patients with sarcopenia seemed to have a lower IL-10 level. Positive associations were present between the severity of sarcopenia and IL-6, IL-17, and TNF-α levels, while there was an inverse correlation between the presence of sarcopenia and the IL-10 level. Conclusions: Our research found that in sarcopenic elderly subjects, the serum levels of several biomarkers, such as IL-6, IL-17A, and TNF-α, were higher than those in non-sarcopenic elderly persons.In summary, chronic inflammation plays an important role in the development of sarcopenia. Further studies are needed to explore the possible molecular mechanisms and discover new therapeutic targets .