Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Adverse effects of coexistence of sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome in Japanese women

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 1093–1098 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:

Little information is available regarding the interactions of sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the risks of these age-associated diseases in women. The present cross-sectional study was performed to investigate whether the coexistence of sarcopenia and MetS further increases the risks of lifestyle-related diseases in Japanese women.

SUBJECTS/METHODS:

Healthy Japanese women (n=533) aged 30–84 participated in this study. MetS was defined as higher body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, systolic or diastolic blood pressure and blood lipid abnormalities. Appendicular muscle mass and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The criterion of low muscle mass and strength defined median skeletal muscle index (appendicular muscle mass/height2, kg/m2) and handgrip strength.

RESULTS:

Two-way ANCOVA with adjustment for age, body fat percentage and whole-body lean tissue mass indicated that sarcopenia and MetS interacted to produce a significant effect on HbA1c, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in Japanese women. The systolic blood pressure, triglycerides and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were significantly higher in women with coexisting sarcopenia and MetS than in healthy controls or in those with sarcopenia or MetS alone. The HbA1c in the coexisting sarcopenia and MetS group was higher than in healthy controls and sarcopenia subjects.

CONCLUSIONS:

The coexistence of sarcopenia and MetS further increases the risks of cardiovascular diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, arterial stiffness and hyperlipidemia even adjustment of age and body composition in adult Japanese women.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Judge JO, Underwood M, Gennosa T . Exercise to improve gait velocity in older persons. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 1993; 74: 400–406.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Alexander NB, Schultz AB, Warwick DN . Rising from a chair: effects of age and functional ability on performance biomechanics. J Gerontol 1991; 46: M91–M98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Wolfson L, Judge J, Whipple R, King M . Strength is a major factor in balance, gait, and the occurrence of falls. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 1995; 50, (Spec No) 64–67.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Walsh MC, Hunter GR, Livingstone MB . Sarcopenia in premenopausal and postmenopausal women with osteopenia, osteoporosis and normal bone mineral density. Osteoporos Int 2006; 17: 61–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Waters DL, Hale L, Grant AM, Herbison P, Goulding A . Osteoporosis and gait and balance disturbances in older sarcopenic obese New Zealanders. Osteoporos Int 2010; 21: 351–357.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Crepaldi G, Romanato G, Tonin P, Maggi S . Osteoporosis and body composition. J Endocrinol Invest 2007; 30: 42–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Despres JP, Moorjani S, Lupien PJ, Tremblay A, Nadeau A, Bouchard C . Regional distribution of body fat, plasma lipoproteins, and cardiovascular disease. Arteriosclerosis 1990; 10: 497–511.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Evans WJ, Campbell WW . Sarcopenia and age-related changes in body composition and functional capacity. J Nutr 1993; 123: 465–468.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sanada K, Miyachi M, Tanimoto M, Yamamoto K, Murakami H, Okumura S 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 2010; 110: 57–65.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Snijder MB, Henry RM, Visser M, Dekker JM, Seidell JC, Ferreira I et al. Regional body composition as a determinant of arterial stiffness in the elderly: The Hoorn Study. J Hypertens 2004; 22: 2339–2347.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Grundy SM, Brewer HB, Cleeman JI, Smith SC, Lenfant C . Definition of metabolic syndrome: report of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/American Heart Association conference on scientific issues related to definition. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2004; 24: e13–e18.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Takahashi K, Bokura H, Kobayashi S, Iijima K, Nagai A, Yamaguchi S . Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of ischemic stroke in women. Intern Med 2007; 46: 643–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Meigs JB . Metabolic syndrome: in search of a clinical role. Diabetes Care 2004; 27: 2761–2763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Schrager MA, Metter EJ, Simonsick E, Ble A, Bandinelli S, Lauretani F et al. Sarcopenic obesity and inflammation in the InCHIANTI study. J Appl Physiol 2007; 102: 919–925.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Blain H, Vuillemin A, Teissier A, Hanesse B, Guillemin F, Jeandel C . Influence of muscle strength and body weight and composition on regional bone mineral density in healthy women aged 60 years and over. Gerontology 2001; 47: 207–212.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Gleeson PB, Protas EJ, LeBlanc AD, Schneider VS, Evans HJ . Effects of weight lifting on bone mineral density in premenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res 1990; 5: 153–158.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Peterson SE, Peterson MD, Raymond G, Gilligan C, Checovich MM, Smith EL . Muscular strength and bone density with weight training in middle-aged women. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1991; 23: 499–504.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sinaki M, Itoi E, Wahner HW, Wollan P, Gelzcer R, Mullan BP et al. Stronger back muscles reduce the incidence of vertebral fractures: a prospective 10 year follow-up of postmenopausal women. Bone 2002; 30: 836–841.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Pluijm SM, Visser M, Smit JH, Popp-Snijders C, Roos JC, Lips P . Determinants of bone mineral density in older men and women: body composition as mediator. J Bone Miner Res 2001; 16: 2142–2151.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Szulc P, Beck TJ, Marchand F, Delmas PD . Low skeletal muscle mass is associated with poor structural parameters of bone and impaired balance in elderly men--the MINOS study. J Bone Miner Res 2005; 20: 721–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hwang DK, Choi HJ . The relationship between low bone mass and metabolic syndrome in Korean women. Osteoporos Int 2010; 21: 425–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. von Muhlen D, Safii S, Jassal SK, Svartberg J, Barrett-Connor E . Associations between the metabolic syndrome and bone health in older men and women: the Rancho Bernardo Study. Osteoporos Int 2007; 18: 1337–1344.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Sugawara J, Hayashi K, Yokoi T, Cortez-Cooper MY, DeVan AE, Anton MA et al. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity: an index of central arterial stiffness? J Hum Hypertens 2005; 19: 401–406.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Satoh H, Kishi R, Tsutsui H . Body mass index can similarly predict the presence of multiple cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged Japanese subjects as waist circumference. Intern Med 2010; 49: 977–982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Hamada R, Muto S, Otsuka N, Sato E, Zhang Y . Prevalence of preexisting metabolic syndrome as defined by Japanese original criteria among patients with non-fatal myocardial infarction. Intern Med 2011; 50: 2749–2757.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Sanada K, Iemitsu M, Murakami H, Tabata I, Yamamoto K, Gando Y et al. PPARgamma2 C1431T genotype increases metabolic syndrome risk in young men with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Physiol Genomics 2011; 43: 103–109.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: report of the European Working Group on sarcopenia in older people. Age Ageing 2010; 39: 412–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Lauretani F, Russo CR, Bandinelli S, Bartali B, Cavazzini C, Di Iorio A et al. Age-associated changes in skeletal muscles and their effect on mobility: an operational diagnosis of sarcopenia. J Appl Physiol 2003; 95: 1851–1860.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Li M, Kim DH, Tsenovoy PL, Peterson SJ, Rezzani R, Rodella LF et al. Treatment of obese diabetic mice with a heme oxygenase inducer reduces visceral and subcutaneous adiposity, increases adiponectin levels, and improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Diabetes 2008; 57: 1526–1535.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Roubenoff R, Hughes VA . Sarcopenia: current concepts. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2000; 55: M716–M724.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Stephen WC, Janssen I . Sarcopenic-obesity and cardiovascular disease risk in the elderly. J Nutr Health Aging 2009; 13: 460–466.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Lim S, Kim JH, Yoon JW, Kang SM, Choi SH, Park YJ et al. Sarcopenic obesity: prevalence and association with metabolic syndrome in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging (KLoSHA). Diabetes Care 2010; 33: 1652–1654.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Aubertin-Leheudre M, Lord C, Goulet ED, Khalil A, Dionne IJ . Effect of sarcopenia on cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese postmenopausal women. Obesity (Silver Spring) 2006; 14: 2277–2283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Asmar R, Benetos A, Topouchian J, Laurent P, Pannier B, Brisac AM et al. Assessment of arterial distensibility by automatic pulse wave velocity measurement. Validation and clinical application studies. Hypertension 1995; 26: 485–490.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Bank AJ, Kaiser DR . Smooth muscle relaxation: effects on arterial compliance, distensibility, elastic modulus, and pulse wave velocity. Hypertension 1998; 32: 356–359.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Cohn JN . Vascular wall function as a risk marker for cardiovascular disease. J Hypertens Suppl 1999; 17: S41–S44.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Kinjo M, Setoguchi S, Solomon DH . Bone mineral density in adults with the metabolic syndrome: analysis in a population-based US sample. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007; 92: 4161–4164.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Hernandez JL, Olmos JM, Pariente E, Martinez J, Valero C, Garcia-Velasco P et al. Metabolic syndrome and bone metabolism: the Camargo Cohort study. Menopause 2010; 17: 955–961.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Carroll S, Cooke CB, Butterly RJ . Metabolic clustering, physical activity and fitness in nonsmoking, middle-aged men. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2000; 32: 2079–2086.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Finley CE, LaMonte MJ, Waslien CI, Barlow CE, Blair SN, Nichaman MZ . Cardiorespiratory fitness, macronutrient intake, and the metabolic syndrome: the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. J Am Diet Assoc 2006; 106: 673–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Lakka TA, Laaksonen DE, Lakka HM, Mannikko N, Niskanen LK, Rauramaa R et al. Sedentary lifestyle, poor cardiorespiratory fitness, and the metabolic syndrome. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003; 35: 1279–1286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. LaMonte MJ, Barlow CE, Jurca R, Kampert JB, Church TS, Blair SN . Cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with the incidence of metabolic syndrome: a prospective study of men and women. Circulation 2005; 112: 505–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Lee S, Kuk JL, Katzmarzyk PT, Blair SN, Church TS, Ross R . Cardiorespiratory fitness attenuates metabolic risk independent of abdominal subcutaneous and visceral fat in men. Diabetes Care 2005; 28: 895–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Sanada K, Kearns CF, Kojima K, Abe T . Peak oxygen uptake during running and arm cranking normalized to total and regional skeletal muscle mass measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Eur J Appl Physiol 2005; 93: 687–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Hunt BE, Davy KP, Jones PP, DeSouza CA, Van Pelt RE, Tanaka H et al. Role of central circulatory factors in the fat-free mass-maximal aerobic capacity relation across age. Am J Physiol 1998; 275: H1178–H1182.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Frontera WR, Hughes VA, Fielding RA, Fiatarone MA, Evans WJ, Roubenoff R . Aging of skeletal muscle: a 12-yr longitudinal study. J Appl Physiol 2000; 88: 1321–1326.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported in part by a grant-in-aid (no. 21300258) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (KS) and a grant-in-aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan (MM). The author’s responsibilities were as follows—DR Mitsuru Higuchi and DR Katsuhiko Suzuki: consulted on the study design, recruited subjects; DR Kenta Yamamoto, DR Hiroshi Kawano, DR Michiya Tanomoto, MS Yumi Ohmori and MR Satoshi Hanawa: acquisition of subjects and collection of data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga, Japan

    K Sanada, M Iemitsu & I Tabata

  2. Health Promotion and Exercise Program, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan

    H Murakami, R Kawakami & M Miyachi

  3. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Saitama, Japan

    Y Gando & H Kawano

Authors
  1. K Sanada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M Iemitsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. H Murakami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Y Gando
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. H Kawano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. R Kawakami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. I Tabata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. M Miyachi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to K Sanada.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sanada, K., Iemitsu, M., Murakami, H. et al. Adverse effects of coexistence of sarcopenia and metabolic syndrome in Japanese women. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 1093–1098 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.43

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2012.43

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links