Inflammatory parameters in elderly women with and without sarcopenic obesity

The combination of increased fat mass with a decrease in muscle mass and strength in the elderly has been termed sarcopenic obesity (SO). In addition, augmented levels of inflammatory markers have been reported in subjects with SO. Two hundred-sixteen obese elderly women were included in this cross-sectional study. They underwent body composition analysis by DEXA to define the presence of SO. Volunteers were divided into two groups: SO (n= 83; 66.7 ± 5.6 years) and non-SO (n= 133; 67.6 ± 4.9 years) for the comparison of inflammatory cytokines.  There were no significant differences between SO and non-SO groups in the blood concentrations of the inflammatory markers analyzed, e.g. interleukin-6 (0.82 ± 0.20 vs 0.83 ± 0.19 pg/ml; p=0.64), C-reactive protein (2.70 ± 1.55 vs 2.82 ± 1.66 pg/ml; p=0.71), tumor necrosis factor alpha (0.71 ± 0.08 vs 0.70 ± 0.08 pg/ml; p=0.42) and interferon-gamma (0.75 ± 0.14 vs 0.74 ± 0.08 pg/ml; p=0.47), respectively. Thus, in the studied population, inflammatory markers are not exacerbated by SO when compared to obesity without sarcopenia.