Sarcopenia as a comorbidity of cardiovascular disease

Sarcopenia, the lowered skeletal muscle mass, weakened skeletal muscle strength, and reduced physical performance with aging, is a component of frailty and high-risk factor for falls, resulting in an increase in mortality. In cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients, systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, overactivation of ubiquitin-proteasome system, endothelial dysfunction, lowering muscle blood flow, impaired glucose tolerance, hormonal changes, and physical inactivity possibly contribute to CVD-related sarcopenia. Prevalence of sarcopenia and osteosarcopenia, which is osteopenia and sarcopenia coexisting together, seems to be higher in CVD patients than in community-dwelling adults, suggesting the necessity of early diagnosis and prevention of CVD-related sarcopenia. Atrial stiffness, coronary artery calcification score, and serum vitamin D levels may be of help as the biomarkers to suspect sarcopenia, and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors may play a role in the medical prevention and treatment of CVD-related sarcopenia. There are few reports to convince the efficacies of dietary and antioxidant supplementation on sarcopenia at present, whereas aerobic and resistance training exercises have been recognized as an effective strategy to prevent and treat sarcopenia.