Topical Area: Aging and Chronic Disease
Objectives : To determine whether the associations between thigh inter-muscular-fat area, anthropometric characteristics and physical performance varies in old adults with low vs. high thigh muscle cross-sectional area.
Methods : Cross-sectional analysis of year 6 data from 1903 participants (52.2% women) of the Health ABC study aged 74–85y. Mid-thigh muscle composition (by CT), body composition (DXA) and physical performance were compared across quartiles of mid-thigh inter-muscular fat area. General linear model univariate analysis was used to study the associations between inter-muscular fat area and physical function according to low or high mid-thigh muscle cross-sectional area (using the 50th percentile).
Results : In participants with low mid-thigh muscle area, there was a threshold effect in which high inter-muscular fat was related to poor mobility function after the 2nd quartile ( > 23.7 cm2 in men and > 21.3 cm2 in women). While, in participants with high mid-thigh muscle area, high inter-muscular fat was not associated with poor mobility function. Inter-muscular fat had no significant association with isokinetic knee strength in participants with either low or high muscle area. However, across all inter-muscular fat conditions, participants with low muscle area had lower leg strength than those with high muscle area.
Conclusions : The negative effects of inter-muscular fat in aging are greatly influenced by the presence of concurrent low muscle mass.
Funding Sources : NIA/NIH
Samaneh Farsijani
University of Pittsburgh
Adam Santanasto
University of Pittsburgh
Peggy Cawthon
California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute
Robert Boudreau
University of Pittsburgh
Bret Goodpaster
Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes
Stephen Kritchevsky
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Tamara Harris
National Institute on Aging
Anne Newman
University of Pittsburgh
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