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Updated: Sep 20, 2025
Author Spotlight: Decellularization-Based Quantification of Skeletal Muscle Fatty Infiltration
Published on: June 9, 2023
Is imaging-based muscle quantity associated with risk of diabetes? A meta-analysis of cohort studies
Shanhu Qiu1, Xue Cai2, Yang Yuan3
1Department of General Practice, Zhongda Hospital, Zhongda Hospital, Institute of Diabetes, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Research and Education Centre of General Practice, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; The First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, China(1).
Aims:
Greater muscle quantity (muscle mass and area) is associated with better glycemic control in adults, but its longitudinal association with risk of diabetes remains debatable. We therefore conducted this meta-analysis to address this issue.
Methods:
We performed a literature search and included cohort studies that measured muscle quantity objectively by imaging-based approaches and reported their association with risk of diabetes. Study-specific data were pooled using a random-effects model.
Results:
Thirty-three unique datasets, with 10 on total muscle quantity, and 23 on regional (8 on appendicular, 4 on leg, 6 on thigh, and 5 on abdominal) muscle quantity, were included. Muscle quantity was all measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry or computed tomography. Most datasets revealed nonsignificant outcomes. Meta-analysis showed collectively that the risk of diabetes was not related to total or regional muscle quantity in either normalized or unnormalized form, with the hazard ratios ranged from 0.92 to 1.09 per every 1 standard deviation higher of corresponding muscle quantity in general (all P > 0.10). Neither sex nor weight status affected the relationship.
Conclusions:
Our study did not provide adequate evidence to support the concept that large muscle quantity was associated with low risk of diabetes in population-based cohort studies.
