Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025
Segmentation and Linear Measurement for Body Composition Analysis using Slice-O-Matic and Horos
Published on: March 21, 2021
Novel approach to assess sarcopenia in children with inflammatory bowel disease
Kriszta Katinka Boros1, Gábor Veres2,3, Hajnalka Krisztina Pintér3
1Pediatric Center, MTA Center of Excellence, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Insights
Sarcopenia in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients may be overestimated. Adjusting skeletal muscle mass (SMM) for body mass index (BMI) Z-score is crucial for accurate assessment in children with IBD.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric gastroenterology
- Body composition analysis
- Sarcopenia research
Background:
- Sarcopenia is linked to adverse outcomes in chronic diseases.
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can impact body composition.
- Accurate assessment of skeletal muscle mass (SMM) is vital in pediatric IBD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize body composition (BC) in pediatric IBD patients.
- To compare SMM in IBD patients versus healthy children.
- To identify factors influencing SMM in pediatric IBD.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance (InBody 720).
- Measured BC parameters in IBD patients and healthy controls (HC).
- Assessed the influence of age, sex, height, weight, and BMI on SMM; generated SMM Z-scores.
Main Results:
- SMM was lower in IBD patients compared to unadjusted HC.
- SMM correlated significantly with age, weight, height, and BMI in HC.
- Sex, age, and BMI were significant predictors of SMM; adjusted SMM did not differ between IBD and HC.
Conclusions:
- Body composition analysis can serve as an objective marker for sarcopenia in pediatric IBD.
- Adjusting SMM for BMI Z-score is necessary to prevent sarcopenia overestimation in pediatric IBD.
- Normalized SMM Z-scores were similar between IBD patients and HC, suggesting BMI adjustment is key.
Introduction:
Sarcopenia is associated with poor clinical outcomes in chronic diseases. Our study aimed to characterize body composition (BC) parameters in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and compare skeletal muscle mass (SMM) parameters with the healthy pediatric population.
Methods:
BC of healthy controls (HC) and of patients with IBD were measured via multifrequency bioelectrical impedance (InBody 720 device) in a cross-sectional manner. The effect of sex, age, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) on BC parameters, with a special attention to SMM, was assessed. Reference tables from SMM were generated using a maximum-likelihood curve-fitting technique for calculating Z scores.
Results:
BC parameters were associated with age, body size, and sex. SMM was lower in patients with IBD (n = 57, aged 6.71 ± 8.7 years) compared to unadjusted HC (n = 307, aged 9.9-19.3 years; 143 males; SMM: 22.34 ± 8.38 vs. 24.4 ± 6.3 kg; p = 0.03). SMM showed a moderately strong correlation with age, weight, height, and BMI (R = 0.65, 0.9, 0.87, and 0.66; p < 0.05 for each) in HC. In multivariate stepwise, ridge regression analysis, age, sex, and BMI remained the significant predictors of SMM (age β = 0.47, -0.31, and 0.38, respectively; p < 0.05). SMM of sex-, age-, and BMI-adjusted HC did not differ from IBD. Therefore, BMI Z score-based references were plotted for normalizing SMM, and SMM Z score was calculated and found to be similar to that of HC.
Conclusions:
BC is supposed to be an easy-to-measure and objective marker of sarcopenia in children with IBD. Adjustment of SMM for BMI Z score might be needed to avoid the overestimation of sarcopenia in this patient population.
