Sarcopenia: The Impact on Health and Disease

A special issue of Muscles (ISSN 2813-0413).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 3634

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Internal Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, Greece
Interests: diabetes mellitus; diabetic foot; diabetes complications; diabetes mellitus treatment; internal medicine

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41110 Larissa, Greece
Interests: sarcopenia; frailty syndrome; nutrients; electrolytes; internal medicine

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sarcopenia is a clinical condition associated with a progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. According to the existing literature, this condition may be linked to aging, as well as appear in many other chronic medical conditions and diseases. As sarcopenia may lead to adverse outcomes such as hospitalization, disability, and increased mortality and morbidity, it is important to diagnose and monitor it in everyday clinical practice. In addition, it seems that further research is needed to shed more light on the pathophysiology of this intriguing issue and the possible interplay between sarcopenia and other medical conditions. It is also imperative for the scientific community to investigate and validate prevention and intervention measures concerning sarcopenia.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish high-quality research papers and review articles to address the current knowledge concerning the impact of low muscle mass and sarcopenia on health and disease. The topics should cover the following aspects:

  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia in a geriatric population;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia in chronic diseases;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia in infections;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia in malignancies;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia and frailty syndrome;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia in metabolic diseases and diabetes mellitus;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia in respiratory diseases;
  • Muscle mass/sarcopenia and polypharmacy.

Original, high-quality contributions that have not yet been published or that are not currently under review by another journal are welcome.

Dr. Nikolaos Papanas
Dr. Nikolaos D. Karakousis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • sarcopenia
  • frailty
  • low muscle mass
  • vulnerability
  • chronic diseases
  • metabolic diseases
  • diabetes mellitus
  • infection
  • autoimmune diseases
  • malignancies
  • respiratory diseases
  • polypharmacy

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2080 KiB  
Article
Sarcopenia Identification Using Alternative Vertebral Landmarks in Individuals with Lung Cancer
by Cecily A. Byrne, Giamila Fantuzzi, Jeremy T. Stephan, Sage Kim, Vanessa M. Oddo, Timothy J. Koh and Sandra L. Gomez
Muscles 2024, 3(2), 121-132; https://doi.org/10.3390/muscles3020012 - 16 Apr 2024
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Abstract
(1) Background: Sarcopenia, or low skeletal mass index (SMI), contributes to higher lung cancer mortality. The SMI at third lumbar vertebrae (L3) is the reference standard for body composition analysis. However, there is a need to explore the validity of alternative landmarks in [...] Read more.
(1) Background: Sarcopenia, or low skeletal mass index (SMI), contributes to higher lung cancer mortality. The SMI at third lumbar vertebrae (L3) is the reference standard for body composition analysis. However, there is a need to explore the validity of alternative landmarks in this population. We compared the agreement of sarcopenia identification at the first lumbar (L1) and second lumbar (L2) to L3 in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and White (NHW) individuals with lung cancer. (2) Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional study included 214 NHB and NHW adults with lung cancer. CT scans were analyzed to calculate the SMI at L1, L2, and L3. T-tests, chi-square, Pearson’s correlation, Cohen’s kappa, sensitivity, and specificity analysis were used. (3) Results: Subjects presented with a mean age of 68.4 ± 9.9 years and BMI of 26.3 ± 6.0 kg/m2. Sarcopenia prevalence varied from 19.6% at L1 to 39.7% at L3. Cohen’s kappa coefficient was 0.46 for L1 and 0.64 for L2, indicating weak and moderate agreement for the identification of sarcopenia compared to L3. (4) Conclusions: Sarcopenia prevalence varied greatly depending on the vertebral landmark used for assessment. Using L2 or L1 alone resulted in a 16.8% and 23.8% misclassification of sarcopenia in this cohort of individuals with lung cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sarcopenia: The Impact on Health and Disease)
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Review

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12 pages, 435 KiB  
Review
Sarcopenia and Pleural Mesothelioma: The Current Knowledge
by Nikolaos D. Karakousis, Konstantinos I. Gourgoulianis, Nikolaos Papanas and Ourania S. Kotsiou
Muscles 2024, 3(1), 48-59; https://doi.org/10.3390/muscles3010006 - 8 Feb 2024
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Abstract
Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a tumor related to adverse prognosis. The PM WHO classification has mainly identified three major subtypes of PM which are epithelioid, biphasic, and sarcomatoid. Sarcopenia is a medical issue related to a reduction in muscle mass and strength. It [...] Read more.
Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a tumor related to adverse prognosis. The PM WHO classification has mainly identified three major subtypes of PM which are epithelioid, biphasic, and sarcomatoid. Sarcopenia is a medical issue related to a reduction in muscle mass and strength. It represents a major health issue globally because it is related to adverse effects such as hospitalization, increased length of stay, disability, increased morbidity and mortality and augmented health care expenditures. In this literature review, we attempted to examine the upcoming association between sarcopenia and PM. As recorded by the current literature, muscle loss in PM subjects was related to poorer survival and lower levels of activity. Subjects with PM had increased rates of pre-sarcopenia and malnutrition, while pre-sarcopenia was related to worse activity levels, and malnutrition was related to worse quality of life (QoL). Both tumor volume and sarcopenia were related to long-term mortality in surgically treated PM subjects, while sarcopenia was present both pre-operatively and post-operatively in these subjects. In addition, post-operative sarcopenic subjects showed a decreased 3-year overall survival (OS) in comparison with those who did not have sarcopenia, while pre-operative sarcopenia was importantly related to an increased rate of post-operative adverse outcomes. More studies are needed to validate these claims. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sarcopenia: The Impact on Health and Disease)
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