Sarcopenic obesity is not associated with sexual dysfunction in older adults: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the frequency of sexual dysfunction (SD) and the association between SD and body composition abnormalities, such as sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity. METHODS: Older adults (≥65 years) were included. Sarcopenic obesity was diagnosed by using newly defined ESPEN-EASO diagram. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria. Obesity was defined using the fat percentile cut-offs suggested by ESPEN-EASO. SD was determined by Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX). RESULTS: Two-hundred and sixty-seven volunteers (64.4% female, mean age 73.63 ± 6.22 years) participated in this study. One-hundred seventy-eight individuals (66.7%) had SD. It was present in 83.1% and 36.8% of the females and males, respectively (p < 0.0001). There was no association between SD and sarcopenia alone (OR: 1.359, 95% CI: 0.650-2.838, p = 0.415) or obesity alone (OR: 0.986, 95% CI: 0.543-1.791, p = 0.963). Sarcopenic obesity was significantly associated with SD (OR: 9.116, 95% CI: 1.173-70.851, p = 0.035). However, this significance was lost after the model was adjusted for gender, marital status, and comorbidities (OR: 4.676, 95% CI: 0.578-37.801, p = 0.148). CONCLUSIONS: SD was present in 66.7% of the older adults and was not associated with sarcopenia, obesity, or sarcopenic obesity. Further longitudinal studies are needed on this topic.

The frequency of sexual experience in community-dwelling older adults was only 33.7% and 53.2% in the last 1 year and 5 years, respectively.One-hundred seventy-eight individuals (66.7%) had sexual dysfunction (SD).The female gender and being a widow/widower were found to increase the odds of SD.Sarcopenia, obesity, or sarcopenic obesity were not associated with a higher risk of SD.

The Role of NF-κB, PPAR-α, and PPAR-γ in Older Adults with Metabolic Syndrome.

The etiopathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MetS) has not been fully understood yet, and chronic low-grade inflammation is thought to be associated with the development of complications related to MetS. We aimed to investigate the role of Nuclear factor Kappa B ( NF-κB ), Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor- α and γ (PPAR-α, and PPAR-γ) which are the main markers of inflammation in older adults with MetS. A total of 269 patients aged≥18, 188 patients with MetS who met the diagnostic criteria of the International Diabetes Federation, and 81 controls who applied to geriatrics and general internal medicine outpatient clinics for various reasons were included in the study. Patients were separated into four groups: young with MetS (< 60, n=76), elderly with MetS (≥60, n=96), young control (< 60, n=31), elderly controls (≥60, n=38). Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and NF-κB , PPAR-α, and PPAR-γ plasma levels were measured in all of the participants. Age and sex distribution were similar between MetS and control groups. C-reactive protein (CRP), NF-κB levels (p=0.001) and CIMT (p<0,001) of MetS group were significantly higher than in the control groups. On the other hand, the PPAR-γ (p=0.008) and PPAR-α (p=0.003) levels were significantly lower in MetS. ROC analysis revealed that the NF-κB, PPAR-α, and PPAR-γ could be used to indicate MetS in younger adults (AUC: 0.735, p<0.000; AUC: 0.653, p=0.003), whereas it could not be an indicator in older adults (AUC: 0.617, p=0.079; AUC:0.530, p=0.613). It seems that these markers have important roles in MetS-related inflammation. In our results, suggest that the indicator feature of NF-κB , PPAR-α and PPAR-γ in recognizing MetS in young individuals is lost in older adults with Mets.

Prevalence of Malnutrition According to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition Criteria in Community-dwelling Older Adults in Turkey.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition according to the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria in community-dwelling older adults in Turkey. Methods: Malnutrition was assessed based on the GLIM criteria, and Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form was used for screening. The severity of malnutrition was determined as severe or moderate based on the phenotypic criteria of GLIM. Results: Five hundred sixty-nine (69% female, mean age 74.42±6.58 years) community-dwelling older adults participated in this study. The educational statuses of the participants were as follows: 17.2%, illiterate; 13.3%, literate; 35.3%, primary school; 7.0%, secondary school; 11.1%, high school; and 16.2%, university graduates. Among the participants, 16.4% were living alone, whereas 43.9% of them were living with their spouses. The rest were living with their extended families. According to the GLIM criteria, 24.5% (n=139) of the participants had malnutrition, and 13.9% of the total population had severe malnutrition. Age was significantly associated with malnutrition [odds ratio 1.064, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.034-1.096, p<0.0001]. No significant difference was found between genders (p=0.207), education groups (p=0.323), and living status (p=0.434) in terms of malnutrition. However, women had higher malnutrition rates than men (26.0% vs. 21.0%) (risk ratio 0.757, 95% CI 0.494-1.160, p=0.207). Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition was 24.5%, whereas the rate of severe malnutrition was 13.9% in community-dwelling older adults. Women had higher rates of malnutrition, and age was associated with malnutrition. We recommend for researchers and clinicians to integrate the GLIM criteria into their practices to create a common language in malnutrition assessment.

Nutritional status as a mediator between the age-related muscle loss and frailty in community-dwelling older adults.

PURPOSE: The purposes of the study were: a) to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia, obesity and sarcopenic obesity (SO) in older adults, b) to explore the effect of nutrition as mediator of the association between these entities and frailty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Older adults (≥65 years) were evaluated based on European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People criteria for the presence/absence of sarcopenia. Obesity was diagnosed by using Zoico methodology. FRAIL scale was used to evaluate frailty and nutritional status was assessed with Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). RESULTS: Five-hundred-seventy individuals (68,9% female, mean age 74,41±6,57 years) were included. The prevalence of sarcopenia, obesity and SO were 18,6%, 28,9% and 11,2%, respectively. FRAIL scores were directly affected by having sarcopenia (ß: 0.42, 95% CI: (0.21-0.67), p<0.001) and SO (ß: 0.31, 95% CI: (0.06-0.59), p:0.015), whereas obesity had no direct effect on FRAIL (ß: 0.1, 95% CI: (-0.08-0.3), p:0.26). MNA was a mediator (ß: -0.35, 95% CI: (-0.12-(-0.08)), p<0.0001) in both sarcopenic (ß: -0.69, 95% CI: (-3.34-(-1.69)), p<0.0001) and SO patients (ß: -0.34, 95% CI: (-2.21-(-0.26)), p:0.013), but not in obese group (ß: -0.01, 95% CI: (-0.08-0.04). After the Bonferroni corrections,only sarcopenia had an association with frailty with MNA being the mediator. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed that the frailty rate was higher in sarcopenia (20,8%) and SO (17,2%) groups than obese (5,5%) group. Frailty was associated with sarcopenia and SO, but not with obesity. Nutritional status was found to be a mediator of the association between age-related muscle loss and frailty To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the mediator of the associations between age-related muscle loss and frailty.

Anthropometric and Body Composition Measurements Related to Osteoporosis in Geriatric Population.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate different anthropometric and body composition measurements, including weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (fat%), skeletal muscle index (SMI), a body shape index (ABSI), waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC), in relation to bone mineral density. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of a total of 482 patients who consulted the geriatric outpatient clinic between 2018 and 2019. Patients were evaluated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Anthropometric measurements (HC, WC, weight, BMI, and ABSI), as well as body composition analysis (fat% and SMI) by bioimpedance analysis system, were performed. The patients were evaluated with the rapid Assessment of Physical Activity Index in terms of aerobic exercise habits. Results: There was a significant correlation between lumbar spine (LS) T-score and SMI (r=0.36, p=0.000) and between LS T-score and weight (r=0.21, p=0.000), BMI (r=0.10, p=0.045) and WC (r=0.15, p=0.001). There was a statistically significant correlation between femur neck (FN) T-score and fat% (r=0.15, p=0.001), SMI (r=0.15, p=0.010), weight (r=0.22, p=0.000), BMI (r=0.20, p=0.000), WC (r=0.14, p=0.003), and HC (r=0.17, p=0.001). There was no statistically significant correlation between physical activity and LS T-score (n=353, r=0.08, p=0.16) and FN T-score (n=360, r=0.03, p=0.53). In multiple regression analysis, SMI contributes most in predicting FN and LS T-scores. Conclusions: Anthropometric measurements should be carefully selected in the geriatric population. Among the measurements, the strongest relationship was found between LS T-score and SMI.

Can Monocytopenia Be a New Indicator in Determining Survival in Covid-19 Disease?

BACKGROUND: Monocytes play a central role in Covid-19 infection. Monocytopenia is especially observed in patients with severe infection. In our study, we aimed to investigate the effects of monocytopenia on survival in patients presenting with the suspicion of Covid-19. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with Covid-19 who received inpatient or outpatient treatment in the pandemic clinic of Umraniye Training and Research Hospital between April 2020 and July 2020 were included in our retrospective cohort study. Patients were divided into two groups, severe and non-severe. Demographic data, laboratory parameters, those who were monocytopenic at presentation, those who developed monocytopenia during follow-up, and those with persistent monocytopenia were noted. RESULTS: The study included 471 patients with a mean age of 50.4 ± 18.2 years. Sixty-seven (14.2%) patients had severe and 404 (85.8%) had non-severe disease. The minimum value of monocytes detected during the follow-up in severe patients was significantly lower (p < 0.001). As patients were grouped into those with monocytopenia at the time of admission, those with monocytopenia developing during their follow-up, and those whose monocytopenia at admission persisted, they were compared with regards to the presence or absence of severe disease. Newly developing monocytopenia and persistent monocytopenia were significant in patients with severe disease (p < 0.001, p = 0,001 respectively). Also, among non-surviving patients, there was a significant difference in survival times in the monocytopenia group (p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, we found more developing and persistent monocytopenia in the severe group, and the survival time was low, especially in those with newly developing monocytopenia. The development of monocytopenia in the daily hemogram follow-up of the patients may increase the possibility of mortality, which suggests that monocytopenia may be a new marker in determining survival.

The Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Survey of Activities and Fear of Falling in the Elderly.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Survey of Activities and Fear of Falling in the Elderly (SAFE) was originally developed in English to determine the level of fear of falling and its interactions with activities of daily living. The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the SAFE instrument into Turkish and investigate its psychometric properties. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred eleven older adults (72 females) with a mean age of 69 years (SD = 7.22; range, 60-87) were included. METHODS: For cross-cultural adaptation, 2 bilingual translators used the back-translation procedure. Within a 5- to 7-day period after the first assessment, the participants completed the Turkish version of the SAFE (SAFE-T) to evaluate test-retest reliability. Cronbach's α was used to assess internal consistency. The correlation with the Turkish version of the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-T) was determined to check the validity. RESULTS: The SAFE-T had excellent internal consistency (α = 0.96) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC2,1] = 0.96 for activity level, ICC2,1 = 0.95 for fear of falling, and ICC2,1 = 0.86 for activity restriction subscales). The SAFE-T activity level and SAFE-T activity restriction subscales were moderately correlated with the FES-I (ρ = -0.51, P < .001; ρ = 0.55, P < .001, respectively). A strong positive correlation was found between the SAFE-T fear of falling subscale and the FES-I (ρ = 0.75, P < .001), indicating good concurrent validity. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the SAFE-T is semantically and linguistically adequate to assess the fear of falling in adults older than 60 years. Excellent internal validity and test-retest reliability of the SAFE-T were defined to evaluate the fear of falling among Turkish speaking older adults.

Prevalence of osteosarcopenic obesity in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional retrospective study.

In our study investigating the prevalence of osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO) in community-dwelling older adults and possible factors responsible for falls, we have found that prevalence of OSO is 10.7%. OSO does not significantly increase the odds of falling, whereas lower handgrip strength, ALMi and gait speed were independent factors associated with falls. PURPOSES: The purposes of the study were (a) to determine the prevalence of osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO) in community-dwelling older adults and (b) to investigate the association between falls and possible factors in individuals with and without OSO. METHODS: Medical records of patients aged ≥ 65 years were retrospectively reviewed. Individuals were diagnosed with OSO based on their T-score assessed by dual x-ray absorptiometry, handgrip strength, appendicular lean mass index (ALMi), gait speed and body fat percentile. Comorbidities, history of falls, depressive state, medications and anthropometric measures were also noted. RESULTS: A sample of 460 individuals were assessed (337 females; 123 males) and 49 patients were diagnosed with OSO. There was no statistically significant difference in falls between the two groups (OR: 0.768, 95% CI: 0.409-1.440, p: 0.41) and the presence of OSO was not significantly associated with increased odds of falling (OR: 1.755, 95% CI: 0.547-5.628, p: 0.344). Handgrip strength (OR: 0.931, 95% CI: 0.893-0.971, p: 0.001), ALMi (OR: 0.799, 95% CI: 0.708-0.901, p < 0.0001) and gait speed (OR: 0.529, 95% CI: 0.283-0.988, p: 0.046) were independently associated with falls in overall group, whereas interaction analysis did not reveal any significant moderator effect of OSO vs. non-OSO in the associations between risk factors and falls. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of OSO was 10.7%. OSO was not associated with elevated odds of falling, whereas lower handgrip strength, ALMi and gait speed were independent factors associated with falls. Further prospective research is needed to clarify the effect of OSO on odds of falling, in consideration with possible risk factors. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER AND DATE: NCT04288401 /26.02.2020.

Determinants of Bone Health in Older Adults.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the predictors of bone health in older adults. METHODS: A total of 313 subjects older than 65 years (mean age 74.2±6.4 years, 70.6% female) were included in the study. Demographic characteristics of participants such as gait speed, handgrip strength, level of physical activity (using Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity-RAPA scale), vitamin D levels, T scores of femur neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) were recorded. RESULTS: Based on FN, 40.7% of participants had normal T scores whereas 46.2% and 13.1% of them were osteopenic and osteoporotic, respectively. FN was correlated with age (r:-0.184, p<0.001), BMI (r:0.269, p<0.001), and handgrip strength (r:0.149, p:0.009) in addition to the aerobic subscale of RAPA (RAPA-aerobic) (r:-0.133, p:0.02). Similarly, the LS was correlated with female gender (r:-0.207, p<0.001), age (r:0.136, p:0.016), body mass index (BMI) (r:0.246, p<0.001) and handgrip strength (r:0.217, p<0.001). The predictors of bone health were decided upon using multiple logistic regression analysis. The deterministic model consisted of age, gender, BMI, height, weight, handgrip strength, gait speed, RAPA-aerobic and vitamin D. For LS dependent variable, the overall model was significant (F:10.149, p<0.001). However, only two variables were significant predictors in the model ie. weight (ß:0.389, p<0.001) and handgrip strength (ß=0.186, p<0.001). Similarly for independent variable of FN, the overall model was significant (F:6.525, p<0.001) and only two variables were significant predictors: weight (ß:0.371, p<0.001) and RAPA-Aerobic (ß:0.148, p:0.009). CONCLUSION: Lower levels of body weight, participation in aerobic activity and handgrip strength might be risk factors for deterioration of bone health in older adults.

The role of protein oxidation and DNA damage in elderly hypertension.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate the role of protein oxidation and DNA damage in the elderly hypertensive (HT) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study consisted of four groups: two elderly groups with 30 HT patients and 30 normotensive healthy volunteers, and two young groups with 30 HT patients and 30 normotensive healthy volunteers. Plasma total thiol (T-SH), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), protein carbonyl (PCO), ischemia modified albumin (IMA), urine 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) levels were measured. RESULTS: In the elderly HT group AOPPs, PCO, 8-OHdG, and PAB were significantly higher than the elderly control group. In the young HT group T-SH levels were significantly lower and the other oxidative stress parameters were significantly higher than the young control group. In the elderly control group AOPPs, PCO, IMA, 8-OHdG and PAB were significantly higher than the young control group. T-SH was significantly lower in the elderly control than the young control group. In the elderly HT group, T-SH levels were significantly lower and AOPPs, PCO, IMA, 8-OHdG, and PAB levels were significantly higher than the young HT group. CONCLUSION: Protein and DNA cell damage occurs by oxidation of free radicals throughout life. Our study supports the view that these radicals may be responsible for the development of hypertension with aging process. Urine 8-OHdG levels can be used as a marker for oxidative DNA damage in the elderly hypertensive patients. Finally, our results suggest that oxidative stress may influence both the development and progression of hypertension and aging.

The effects of provocation by foods with raised IgG antibodies and additives on the course of Crohn's disease: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was designed to assess the role of foods with raised IgG antibodies and additives on the symptoms and inflammation of Crohn's disease. METHODS: Eight patients with Crohn's disease in remission were studied. They followed a strict diet during phase I. Then, provocations with two, three-day periods (phases II and III) followed: in phase II, pure forms of foods with high IgG antibodies and in phase III, off-the-shelf forms of those foods were added. Stool samples were collected for fecal calprotectin assay. Blood samples were taken on the 11th and 17th days for highly sensitive C-reactive protein, ferritin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, white blood cells, and platelets. Patients kept a diet-symptom diary. RESULTS: Increased Crohn's disease activity index scores were found statistically significant (p=0.012) between pre- and during the provocation weeks. There were significant increases according to Harvey-Bradshaw Index when the highest values during the phases I, II (p=0.027) and I, III (p=0.027) were compared. The increases in highly sensitive C-reactive protein (p=0.025) and white blood cells (p= 0.036) were found statistically significant. Fecal calprotectin levels showed day-to-day variability. When compared, the levels of fecal calprotectin increased in all patients on the last day of the restriction (10th day) and the first day of the provocation (11th day) with the exception of one patient. CONCLUSIONS: Foods with raised IgG antibody levels and food additives can provoke the symptoms and may stimulate the inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease. Addition of a proper diet with restriction of those foods may be beneficial in the medical treatment.