Association between Elderly Sarcopenia and Inflammatory Cytokine Interleukin-17: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Aging slows down the mechanisms behind skeletal muscle weakening and mobility. Increases in inflammation brought on by aging may contribute to some characteristics of sarcopenia. As a result of population aging worldwide, sarcopenia, an age-related disease, has become a huge burden on both individuals and society as a whole. The study of the morbidity mechanism and available sarcopenia treatments has received more attention. The inflammatory response may be one of the most important methods behind the pathophysiology of sarcopenia in the aged, according to the background of the study. This anti-inflammatory cytokine inhibits the ability of human monocytes and macrophages to induce inflammation as well as the production of cytokines like IL-6. Here, we investigate the association between sarcopenia and interleukin-17 (IL-17), an inflammatory cytokine in the aged. There were 262 subjects aged 61-90 years who were screened for sarcopenia in Hainan General Hospital. The subjects were divided into 45 males and 60 females aged 65-79 years (average age: $72.00\pm 4.31$ years). 105 patients without sarcopenia were randomly selected among 157 participants. It included 50 males and 55 females, aged 61-76 years (mean age: $69.10\pm 4.55$ years) as per the standard definition of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS). The “skeletal muscle index” (SMI), “hand grip strength” (HGS), “gait speed” (GS), “biochemical indexes,” “serum IL-17 level,” nutritional status, and past medical history of the two groups were evaluated and compared. Compared with the participants without sarcopenia, sarcopenia patients had higher average age; less physical exercise; lower total scores of BMI, pre-ALB, IL-17, and SPPB; and a higher proportion of malnutrition risk (all $P<0.05$ ). By “ROC curve analysis,” the best critical point was IL-17 in the growth of sarcopenia. The area that comes under ROC (AUROC) value was 0.627 (95% $\text{CI}=0.552$ , 0.702, $P=0.002$ ). The ideal threshold value for IL-17 to estimate sarcopenia was 18.5 pg/mL. In the unadjusted model, IL-17 was considerably linked to sarcopenia ( $\text{OR}=1.123$ , 95% $\text{CI}=1.037$ -1.215, $P=0.004$ ). After the covariate adjustment observed in the complete adjustment model ( $\text{OR}=1.111$ , 95% $\text{CI}=1.004$ -1.229, $P=0.002$ ), this significance still exists. The results of this study suggest a strong relationship between sarcopenia and IL-17. This study will look at IL-17’s potential to serve as a key sarcopenia indicator. This trial is registered with ChiCTR2200022590.