Nidhi Sharma¹*, Priyanka Rohatgi² and Asna Urooj³

¹Department of Studies in Food Science and Nutrition, University of Mysore, India
²Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Apollo Hospitals, India
³Department of Studies in Food Science and Nutrition, University of Mysore, India

*Corresponding Author: Nidhi Sharma, Department of studies in Food Science and Nutrition, University of Mysore, Manasagangothri, Mysuru, Karnataka, India.

Received: May 07, 2025; Published: May 29, 2025

Abstract

Introduction: Sarcopenia affects all populations across the globe. A multicontinental study done across 3 continents reported a prevalence of 15.2%. Indian prevalence of sarcopenia has been reported at 14.2% in older adults and 3.2% in younger adults. India has been termed the diabetes capital of the world with more than 80 million cases. We aim to study the prevalence of sarcopenia in younger urban Indian adults both healthy and those with diabetes.

Methods: Healthy controls (n=40; females n=11, males n=29) and type 2 diabetes subjects (T2DM) (n=61; females n=6, males n=55) aged 30-60 years were recruited from health check department of a multispecialty hospital, Bangalore. Subjects with duration of diabetes less than 15 years (average BMI 25.54 Kg/m2) without co-morbidities were included. Subjects underwent full body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan (DEXA) and forearm muscle handgrip strength (HGS) at the same center. Sarcopenia was identified using skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) calculated as appendicular skeletal muscle mass/height2 (Kg/m2) <7 Kg/m2 for men and <5.4 Kg/m2 for women.

Results: The overall prevalence of sarcopenia was much higher than earlier reported values at 36.6%. Men reported a higher prevalence of 39.3% whereas women reported 23.5%. Low HGS was seen in both diabetic and healthy subjects. Contingency analysis showed no correlation between presence of diabetes and sarcopenia (low SMI : controls 30.0% and diabetics 41.0% ; p-value 0.263). No correlation was found between sarcopenia and gender. Presence of sarcopenia significantly associated with BMI. Lower SMI affected the apparently healthy younger Indian adults irrespective of their glycemic status.

Conclusion: Diabetes is known to cause slow reduction in muscle mass. However, in this study the lack of association between diabetes and sarcopenia points at a bigger problem. Prevalence of sarcopenia among Indians is under-reported which could be the precursor for development of diabetes warranting the need for more studies. Ongoing intervention studies focusing on protein supplementation and exercise could help in designing diabetes treatment targeted at prevention of muscle loss.

Keywords: Diabetes; Sarcopenia; Body Mass Index; Body Fat; Muscle

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Citation

Citation: Nidhi Sharma., et al. “Sarcopenia and It’s Determinants Among Urban Indian T2DM and Healthy Subjects : An Exploratory Study".Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 9.6 (2025): 91-97.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Nidhi Sharma., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.