Background: Age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) may contribute to accelerating the progress of biological aging. This study investigated the associations between sarcopenia and leukocyte telomere length in a representative population of US adults, after controlling for potential confounders.
Methods: This study analyzed 6336 adults aged ≥20 years, from National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 1999-2002 data, who had dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements and who consented to DNA extraction from their biological specimens. Leukocyte telomere length assay was performed using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Skeletal muscle mass was assessed using DXA, and sarcopenia was defined as below one standard deviation from the sex-specific mean of a young reference group (aged between 20 and 39 years).
Results: After adjustment for potential confounding factors including demographics, health-related behavior, medical conditions, and C-reactive protein, sarcopenia (vs. non-sarcopenic participants) was associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length (mean change: –0.029 [95% CI: –0.046, –0.011]). We also found significant interaction by age, cumulative cigarette pack-years, obesity, or clinical morbidity in the associations between sarcopenia and leukocyte telomere length.
Conclusions: Sarcopenia is strongly associated with shorter leukocyte telomere length. Our findings suggest that maintaining skeletal muscle mass may be beneficial in delaying biological aging and healthy aging.