Sarcopenia in IBD patients associated with worse outcomes

Nearly 50% of patients with inflammatory bowel disease or IBD are affected by Sarcopenia. This condition is characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass or function.

The prevalence of Sarcopenia in IBD patients is high. It is associated with poor clinical outcomes. This condition has an increased risk of hospitalizations, surgery and post-operative complications. Concerning here is the routine evaluation of muscles which is done only by a few patients.

Based on this background, researchers reviewed the sarcopenia mechanism in IBD patients. They understood novel modalities to assess and treat impaired muscle mass or function using the database from Pubmed and Cochrane.

The study results include the following points:

• IBD pathogenesis may be related to malabsorption, reduced protein intake, chronic inflammation, dysbiosis, reduced physical activity, medication effects and hormone signalling from visceral adiposity.
• Direct measurements on cross-sectional imaging are the traditional techniques used to assess Sarcopenia.
• New bedside tools are now available to estimate muscle mass with grip strength, mid- upper- arm circumference, and body composition utilizing bioelectrical impedance analysis.
• Making evaluation more streamlined, novel biomarkers for assessing muscle mass and techniques utilizing point-of-care ultrasound are also proposed.

Concluding further, they said that based on our review and findings, we highlight the consideration that Sarcopenia is tied to poor clinical outcomes independent of IBD activity.

Clinically IBD patients must be assessed routinely for muscle health.

Future studies must elucidate the pathophysiology, and effective therapeutic options to reduce complications.

Further reading:

Review article: Putting some muscle into Sarcopenia—the pathogenesis, assessment and clinical impact of muscle loss in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.17498