Impedance-based measures of muscle mass can be used to predict severity of hepatic steatosis in pediatric nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Impact of sarcopenia on clinical outcomes in pediatric chronic liver disease post-liver transplantation: prevalence and implications

Aim

The purpose of this retrospective single-center study was to determine the frequency of sarcopenia and its association with mortality and other morbidities in children with chronic liver disease who had undergone liver transplantation.

Background

Sarcopenia, a muscle-wasting syndrome, is common in patients with advanced liver disease and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. While sarcopenia in adults has been extensively studied, there is little information in this regard about children and adolescents with chronic liver diseases.

Methods

The study included 108 children and adolescents who had undergone liver transplantation. Sarcopenia was measured using skeletal muscle index at the third lumbar vertebral level and assessed using abdominal computed tomography imaging.

Results

The frequency of sarcopenia in the studied population was found to be 45.7%. Patients with sarcopenia were more likely to be male (P<0.0001), older (P<0.0001), and had lower height-for-age z-scores (P=0.012). Genetic/metabolic diseases were the most common underlying cause of sarcopenia in children. Except for a higher rate of transplant rejection in the sarcopenia group (P=0.035), there was no significant difference in mortality rates (P=0.688) or post-LT complications between the two groups. One year after LT, computed tomography-derived body composition parameters revealed no significant differences between children who survived and those who did not.

Conclusion

Our findings indicated a high frequency of sarcopenia in children with chronic liver disease, implying that more research is needed to better understand its impact on clinical outcomes in this population.

Osteosarcopenia in NAFLD/MAFLD: An Underappreciated Clinical Problem in Chronic Liver Disease

Chronic liver disease (CLD), including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its advanced form, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), affects a significant portion of the population worldwide. NAFLD is characterised by fat accumulation in the liver, while NASH is associated with inflammation and liver damage. Osteosarcopenia, which combines muscle and bone mass loss, is an emerging clinical problem in chronic liver disease that is often underappreciated. The reductions in muscle and bone mass share several common pathophysiological pathways; insulin resistance and chronic systemic inflammation are the most crucial predisposing factors and are related to the presence and gravity of NAFLD and to the worsening of the outcome of liver disease. This article explores the relationship between osteosarcopenia and NAFLD/MAFLD, focusing on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of this condition in patients with CLD.

Using hyperhomocysteinemia and body composition to predict the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in healthcare workers

Purpose

This study investigated associations between serum homocysteine levels, body composition, and the probability of having nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in Chinese healthcare workers.

Patients and Methods

A total of 4028 healthcare workers were enrolled in this study, and all underwent a physical examination. Body composition was measured using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis.

Results

There were 1507 NAFLD patients (72.26% male, 27.74% female) and 2521 controls (39.83% male, 60.17% female). Body mass index (BMI), waistline, neck-circumference (NC), abdominal visceral fat area (AVFA), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose (Glu), homocysteinemia (hcy) were higher in the NAFLD group than controls. Additionally, the skeletal-muscle was associated with a lower risk of NAFLD, whereas BMI, waistline, NC, hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) were associated with a higher risk of NAFLD. The best NC cut-off point for NAFLD was 34.45 cm (sensitivity 83.3% and specificity 83.9%) in women with HHcy, and the best skeletal-muscle content cut-off point for NAFLD was 41.335% (sensitivity 74.2% and specificity 65.6%) in men with HHcy.

Conclusion

Interactions between skeletal-muscle content, NC, and HHcy may affect the incidence of NAFLD in healthcare workers. This may provide a novel approach for diagnosing NAFLD.

Effects of changes in skeletal muscle mass on the prognosis of pediatric malignant solid tumors

PURPOSE

This study aims to clarify the relationship between changes in skeletal muscle mass during treatment and prognosis of pediatric malignant solid tumors.

METHODS

Patients with pediatric malignant solid tumors who were treated at Kyushu University Hospital from 2007 to 2017 were divided into two groups: the progression-free survival (PFS) group and the relapse/death (R/D) group; the psoas major muscle volume (PMV) was then compared. We also measured the PMV and psoas muscle area (PMA) of pediatric patients with no complications who underwent surgery for acute appendicitis (control) and compared the values with those of patients with malignant tumors.

RESULTS

No significant differences were observed in the PMV and PMA between patients with appendicitis and those with malignant tumors. Significant differences were found in the rate of change in PMV between the PFS (1.424) and R/D groups (1.071) (P = 0.0024). When the cut-off value of the rate of change in the PMV was 1.20, patients whose rate of change in PMV was ≥ 1.20 had longer PFS (P = 0.0231) and overall survival (P = 0.0229) than those whose rate of change was < 1.20.

CONCLUSION

Pediatric patients with malignant solid tumors and increased skeletal muscle mass during treatment have a good prognosis.

Perspectives on Sarcopenia as a Predictor for Outcomes in Pediatric Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

Sarcopenia, a pathologic deficiency of muscle mass and function, has emerged as an important secondary feature of many chronic disease states. For adults with end stage liver disease, there are multiple mechanisms which contribute to sarcopenia and its presence has proven to be an important predictor of morbidity and mortality. In children, there are only a limited number of reports which investigate the role of sarcopenia in liver disease. These studies, which are discussed and summarized in this review, report small, single-center analyses with dissimilar study cohorts and varying clinical definitions. Still, children meeting the study entry criteria have sarcopenia with a reported prevalence of 24-70%. When assessed, sarcopenia appears to be associated with more severe disease but is independent of the Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) score and does not correlate with age, gender, or traditional anthropometric measures such as weight, height, weight-for-height, or body mass index (BMI). While individual studies may identify sarcopenia as a statistically significant risk factor for certain post-transplant outcomes such as longer ICU stay, longer duration of intubation, repeat operation, development of serious infection, longer hospital stay, death, or long-term growth failure, such associations are not consistently replicated across studies. Finally, although various methods of muscle mass quantification are utilized, the most reported is the total psoas muscle surface area (tPMSA) on computed tomography. This method, along with others such as skeletal muscle area and skeletal muscle index, have had normative values recently defined and these collective efforts should enable researchers a common basis of comparison when delineating sarcopenia, and its impact, across various study populations in future investigations - including in children with liver disease.

The Combined Effects of Television Viewing and Physical Activity on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: The Kardiovize Study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between television viewing/physical activity (TVV/PA) interactions and cardiometabolic risk in an adult European population. A total of 2155 subjects (25–64 years) (45.2% males), a random population-based sample were evaluated in Brno, Czechia. TVV was classified as low (<2 h/day), moderate (2–4), and high (≥4). PA was classified as insufficient, moderate, and high. To assess the independent association of TVV/PA categories with cardiometabolic variables, multiple linear regression was used. After adjustments, significant associations were: High TVV/insufficient PA with body mass index (BMI) (β = 2.61, SE = 0.63), waist circumference (WC) (β = 7.52, SE = 1.58), body fat percent (%BF) (β = 6.24, SE = 1.02), glucose (β = 0.25, SE = 0.12), triglycerides (β = 0.18, SE = 0.05), and high density lipoprotein (HDL-c) (β = −0.10, SE = 0.04); high TVV/moderate PA with BMI (β = 1.98, SE = 0.45), WC (β = 5.43, SE = 1.12), %BF (β = 5.15, SE = 0.72), triglycerides (β = 0.08, SE = 0.04), total cholesterol (β = 0.21, SE = 0.10), low density protein (LDL-c) (β = 0.19, SE = 0.08), and HDL-c (β = −0.07, SE = 0.03); and moderate TVV/insufficient PA with WC (β = 2.68, SE = 1.25), %BF (β = 3.80, SE = 0.81), LDL-c (β = 0.18, SE = 0.09), and HDL-c (β = −0.07, SE = 0.03). Independent of PA levels, a higher TVV was associated with higher amounts of adipose tissue. Higher blood glucose and triglycerides were present in subjects with high TVV and insufficient PA, but not in those with high PA alone. These results affirm the independent cardiometabolic risk of sedentary routines even in subjects with high-levels of PA.

Sex- and region-specific associations of skeletal muscle mass with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease

INTRODUCTION

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is known to be the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, and accumulating evidence suggests that skeletal muscle might play an important role in metabolic health. However, the association between skeletal muscle and MAFLD is poorly understood so far. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the associations of skeletal muscle with MAFLD and significant fibrosis.

METHODS

A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data obtained from the 2017-2018 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The whole-body, appendicular, and trunk skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) were assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. MAFLD and significant fibrosis were assessed by transient elastography. Survey-weight adjusted multivariable logistic regressions were used to determine the associations. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and variable importance scores from the random forest and logistic regression model were calculated to assess the predictive capability of variables and models.

RESULTS

Of the 2065 participants, those with appendicular SMI in the highest quartile were associated with a lower risk for MAFLD in both sexes (male, OR[95%CI]: 0.46 [0.25~0.84]; female, OR[95%CI]: 0.32 [0.13~0.82]), but with a significantly different scale of the associations between sexes (P _interaction = 0.037). However, females with trunk SMI in the highest quartile had an increased risk of significant fibrosis (OR[95%CI]: 7.82 [1.86~32.77]). Trunk SMI and appendicular SMI ranked the third contributor to MAFLD in random forest and logistic regression models, respectively. Taking appendicular and trunk SMI into consideration, the AUCs for MAFLD were 0.890 and 0.866 in random forest and logistic regression models, respectively.

DISCUSSION

The distribution of skeletal muscle mass differently affects MAFLD and significant fibrosis in the sex groups. Higher appendicular skeletal muscle mass was associated with a lower risk of MAFLD, while the risk of significant fibrosis in females was increased with the trunk skeletal muscle mass.