Sarcopenia index is associated with Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment and their mortality in Chinese adults aged 65 and older.

BACKGROUND

Sarcopenia index (SI) is a novel biomarker calculated as serum creatinine/cystatin C for estimating skeletal muscle mass. Higher SI indicates a higher degree of muscle loss and reduced muscle function. The study aimed to determine whether SI could potentially serve as a predictive marker for MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) and AD (Alzheimer's disease).

METHODS

A total of 176 participants ≥ 65 years of age were reviewed from the Department of Geriatrics at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital between January 2019 and June 2021, and tracked their mortality between January 2019 and June 2021 were recorded. MCI and AD were respectively adapted from the criteria proposed by the Petersen RC and the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease. SI was calculated by serum creatinine (mg/dL)/cystatin C (mg/L) ×100. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between SI and the prevalence of MCI and AD. Cox regression was employed to analyze the relationship between SI and mortality.

RESULTS

After adjusting for potential confounders, increasing levels of SI indicated lower odds of MCI and AD, and showed more pronounced OR values (OR per 1-SD = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.27-0.83 in MCI; OR per 1-SD = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.20-0.71 in AD). The best SI cut-off value for AD was 76.2, and for MCI was 75.7. A total of 27 participants with MCI or AD (20.0%) died. The mortality according to the tertiles of the SI was 36.5%, 13.3% and 5.3% in low (< 76.9), medium (76.9-88.2) and high (> 88.2) groups, respectively (P for trend < 0.001). A higher SI had a lower risk of 3-year all-cause mortality after adjusting for potential confounders (HR per 1-SD = 0.40, 95% CI: 0.22-0.72). MCI and AD patients in the high SI group (SI > 88.2) exhibited the highest survival rates.

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated that SI was independently associated with both MCI and AD in individuals aged 65 and older, and it can serve as a predictor of mortality in these populations.