Association between sarcopenia and the presence of diarrhea or constipation in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a...

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is frequently accompanied by abdominal symptoms such as diarrhea and constipation, and individuals with T2D are also at increased risk of sarcopenia compared with the general population. Previous studies in non-diabetic populations have suggested an association between sarcopenia and gastrointestinal symptoms. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of individuals with T2D who were regularly followed at the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Hospital, or the Department of Diabetes, Kameoka Municipal Hospital, and who had completed the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS). Sarcopenia was defined as the coexistence of reduced handgrip strength and low skeletal muscle mass index. The presence of diarrhea or constipation was defined as GSRS diarrhea or constipation subscale score ≥ 3. Logistic regression models, adjusted for age, sex, and use of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, were used to assess the associations between sarcopenia and each abdominal symptom. Of the 457 individuals (average age 70.6 and 294 men), 42 had sarcopenia. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that GSRS diarrhea subscale score was weakly inversely correlated with age (r =  - 0.1843) and weakly positively correlated with body weight (r = 0.1330), appendicular muscle mass (r = 0.1123), and plasma glucose levels (r = 0.1589). Odds ratio of sarcopenia for the presence of diarrhea or constipation for were 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.33, 1.75) and 0.62 (95% CI: 0.29, 1.23), respectively, with no significant associations observed. In individuals with T2D, there was no significant association between sarcopenia and either diarrhea or constipation.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13340-026-00887-5.