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Association of Initial and Changes in Serum A-FABP Level With the Development and Improvement of Presarcopenia
Tingting Hu1, Yiting Xu1, Xiaoya Li1
1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai 200233, China.
Context:
Several cross-sectional studies have reported the association between serum adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) level and presarcopenia. However, data on the effects of serum A-FABP level and its changes over time on the development and improvement of presarcopenia are scarce.
Objective:
This study aimed to explore the association of serum A-FABP level with the incidence and improvement of presarcopenia in a community-based cohort, and further investigated the association of changes in serum A-FABP level with the incidence and improvement of presarcopenia.
Methods:
This longitudinal cohort study included 1496 adults (41.2% men; median age, 58 [53-63] years) in 2013 to 2014 and was followed up to 2015 to 2016. Participants underwent serum A-FABP level measurements at baseline and a follow-up visit. Visceral fat area (VFA) was measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) was estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis and converted to a skeletal muscle index (SMI). Presarcopenia was defined as SMI less than 1 SD of the sex-specific mean for the young reference group.
Results:
During an average follow-up period of 2.1 years, baseline serum A-FABP level was positively associated with the incidence of presarcopenia (standardized by weight: risk ratio [RR] 3.22; 95% CI, 1.96-5.38; standardized by VFA: RR 2.11, 95% CI, 1.29-3.51) and negatively associated with the improvement of presarcopenia (standardized by weight: RR 0.66; 95% CI, 0.45-0.97; standardized by VFA: RR 0.71; 95% CI, 0.54-0.94), regardless of whether SMM was standardized by weight or VFA. Moreover, changes in serum A-FABP level provided additional information on the incidence and improvement of presarcopenia, independent of baseline serum A-FABP level (all P < .05).
Conclusion:
Baseline serum A-FABP level and its changes were positively associated with the incidence and negatively associated with the improvement of presarcopenia.
