Dynapenia, Muscle Quality, and Hepatic Steatosis in Patients with Obesity and Sarcopenic Obesity
Francesco Frigerio,
Maria De Marinis,
Francesca Camardella,
Vito Cantisani,
Alessandro Pinto,
Marco Bernardi,
Carla Lubrano,
Lucio Gnessi,
Massimo Federici,
Lorenzo Maria Donini,
Eleonora Poggiogalle
Affiliations
Francesco Frigerio
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Maria De Marinis
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Francesca Camardella
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Vito Cantisani
Department of Radiological, Oncological and Pathobiological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00144 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Pinto
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Marco Bernardi
Department of Clinical, Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology and Cardiovascular Sciences, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Carla Lubrano
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Lucio Gnessi
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Massimo Federici
Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Center for Atherosclerosis, Policlinico Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier, 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Lorenzo Maria Donini
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Eleonora Poggiogalle
Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Accumulating evidence supports a connection between sarcopenic obesity (SO) and NAFLD. The extent to which fatty liver contributes to impaired muscle contractility is not yet well established. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of NAFLD on dynapenia in patients with SO. In this study, 71 non-diabetic subjects (age 55 (7.8) years, BMI 35.2 kg/m2 (32.6–38.8)) were classified as having SO and non-sarcopenic obesity (NSO). SO patients displayed worse serum lipid profiles, higher body fat, and lower skeletal muscle mass (both total and appendicular) than NSO patients, despite the absence of any significant differences in body weight, glycometabolic parameters, and hepatic steatosis prevalence. A positive correlation between disposition index and muscle quality index (MQI) (r = 0.393, p = 0.013) emerged after controlling for menopause and body fat percentage. Based on multiple linear regression analysis, MQI was significantly positively associated with the disposition index (β: 0.059, SE: 0.002, p = 0.006) after adjustment for menopause, body fat percentage, and the presence of hepatic steatosis according to the hepatorenal index (HRI). Similar findings emerged when including liver enzyme levels in place of hepatic steatosis. Muscle quality was positively associated with β-cell function corrected for insulin resistance among patients with obesity and sarcopenic obesity, irrespective of the presence of fatty liver disease.
