Measures of muscle mass and fat mass in the identification of metabolic abnormalities in older Korean adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the association of the sex-associated changes of muscle mass and fat mass with metabolic abnormalities in an older Korean population.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline data from the cohort study conducted in the Korean Urban Rural Elderly (KURE) study, which is a population-based longitudinal study of health determinants among elderly persons aged 65 years or older (381 men, 747 women). Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program’s ATP-III criteria (≥3 of the following abnormalities): waist circumference greater than 90 cm in men and 80 cm in women; serum triglycerides level of at least 150 mg/dL; high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level of less than 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women; blood pressure of at least 130/85 mmHg; or serum glucose level of at least 100 mg/dL. The association between muscle and fat mass and metabolic syndrome was assessed by serial logistic regression models.

RESULTS: Fat mass was significantly associated with all components of the metabolic syndrome in both sexes. After adjustment for potential confounders including fat mass, muscle mass was associated with high blood pressure (ASM/Ht2; OR= 2.46, 95% CI = 1.61-3.75), low HDL cholesterol (ASM; OR= 1.91, 95% CI = 1.17-2.88 and ASM/Ht2; OR= 2.25, 95% CI = 1.49-3.38), high glucose (ASM; OR= 1.61, 95% CI = 1.05-2.48) and metabolic syndrome (ASM/Ht2; OR= 1.65, 95% CI = 1.12-2.42) for women and low HDL cholesterol (ASM/Ht2; OR= 1.88, 95% CI = 1.01-3.49) for men.

CONCLUSIONS: In older persons, fat mass was associated with all of the metabolic syndrome components. In contrast, muscle mass was associated with all of the metabolic syndrome components in women, but not in men. More studies are needed to explain the sex difference of the associations.