INSULIN RESISTANCE IS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED QUADRICEPS MUSCLE STRENGTH IN NON-DIABETIC ADULTS, AGE ≥ 70 YEARS

  1. Joshua I. Barzilay, MD (Joshua.barzilay{at}kp.org)1,
  2. George A. Cotsonis, MS2,
  3. Jeremy Walston, MD3,
  4. Ann V. Schwartz, PhD4,
  5. Suzanne Satterfield, MD, DrPH5,
  6. Iva Miljkovic, MD, PhD6 and
  7. Tamara B. Harris, MD 7 for the Health ABC Study
  1. 1. Kaiser Permanente of Georgia and the Division of Endocrinology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
  2. 2. Department of Biostatistics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
  3. 3. Department of Geriatrics, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
  4. 4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
  5. 5. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN
  6. 6. Center for Aging and Population Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  7. 7. Geriatric Epidemiology Section, Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD

    Abstract

    Objective: Lower limb muscle strength is reduced in many people with diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, we examined whether quadriceps muscle strength is reduced in relation to insulin resistance (IR) in well-functioning ambulatory non-diabetic individuals.

    Research Design: Participants, age ≥70 years, underwent DEXA scanning to ascertain muscle and fat mass; tests of quadriceps strength; CT scanning of the quadriceps to gauge muscle lipid content; and fasting insulin and glucose levels from which HOMA-IR was derived.

    Results: In regression analysis, quadriceps strength per kilogram muscle mass was negatively associated (p<0.0001) with HOMA-IR independent of other factors negatively associated with strength – increased age, female gender, low physical activity, impaired fasting glucose, and increased total body fat. Muscle lipid content was not associated with strength.

    Conclusions: A small decrease in quadriceps muscle force is associated with increased HOMA-IR in well-functioning non-diabetic adults, suggesting that diminished quadriceps muscle strength begins prior to DM.

    Footnotes

      • Received September 28, 2008.
      • Accepted January 7, 2009.

    This Article

    1. Published online before print January 26, 2009, doi: 10.2337/dc08-1781
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