TY - JOUR
T1 - Thyroid hormone signaling is associated with physical performance, muscle mass, and strength in a cohort of oldest-old: results from the Mugello study
AU - Di Iorio, Angelo
AU - Paganelli, Roberto
AU - Abate, Michele
AU - Barassi, Giovanni
AU - Ireland, Alex
AU - Macchi, Claudio
AU - Molino-Lova, Raffaele
AU - Cecchi, Francesca
N1 - Funding Information:
Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi G. D'Annunzio Chieti Pescara within the CRUI-CARE Agreement. The Mugello study was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health within the Current Research Program performed at National Research Institutes (IRCCS).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/11/21
Y1 - 2020/11/21
N2 - Thyroid hormones (THs) play a crucial role in the homeostasis of muscle function, such as myogenesis and energy metabolism, suggesting that the thyroid may be also involved in the entropic processes of muscle aging. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of TH signaling on physical performance, muscle mass, and strength in a cohort of community-dwelling oldest-old subjects (> 90 years). The study population was selected in a rural area of central Italy (Mugello, Tuscany), and the design was cross-sectional. Four hundred seventy-five subjects (130 males and 345 females) were enrolled, representing about 65% of all the nonagenarians living in the Mugello area. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors (sex, age, diabetes, and levothyroxine administration), the lowest quartile of FT3/FT4 ratio distribution showed lower physical performance compared to the other quartiles (β ± SE: − 0.49 ± 0.12; p < 0.001), whereas the highest quartile of FT3/FT4 ratio was associated with higher skeletal muscle index (β ± SE: 1.11 ± 0.42; p = 0.009). In addition, the lowest quartile of FT4 showed a statistically significant higher handgrip strength (β ± SE: 1.78 ± 0.68; p = 0.009) compared to all other quartiles. This study demonstrates that nonagenarians with higher FT3/FT4 ratios had better preserved muscle function, therefore successfully overcoming the imbalance of homeostatic and entropic processes involved in muscle aging. However, we could not establish a cause-effect relationship due to the cross-sectional design of the study.
AB - Thyroid hormones (THs) play a crucial role in the homeostasis of muscle function, such as myogenesis and energy metabolism, suggesting that the thyroid may be also involved in the entropic processes of muscle aging. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of TH signaling on physical performance, muscle mass, and strength in a cohort of community-dwelling oldest-old subjects (> 90 years). The study population was selected in a rural area of central Italy (Mugello, Tuscany), and the design was cross-sectional. Four hundred seventy-five subjects (130 males and 345 females) were enrolled, representing about 65% of all the nonagenarians living in the Mugello area. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors (sex, age, diabetes, and levothyroxine administration), the lowest quartile of FT3/FT4 ratio distribution showed lower physical performance compared to the other quartiles (β ± SE: − 0.49 ± 0.12; p < 0.001), whereas the highest quartile of FT3/FT4 ratio was associated with higher skeletal muscle index (β ± SE: 1.11 ± 0.42; p = 0.009). In addition, the lowest quartile of FT4 showed a statistically significant higher handgrip strength (β ± SE: 1.78 ± 0.68; p = 0.009) compared to all other quartiles. This study demonstrates that nonagenarians with higher FT3/FT4 ratios had better preserved muscle function, therefore successfully overcoming the imbalance of homeostatic and entropic processes involved in muscle aging. However, we could not establish a cause-effect relationship due to the cross-sectional design of the study.
KW - Aging
KW - Muscle mass
KW - Muscle strength
KW - Oldest-old
KW - Physical performance
KW - Rehabilitation
KW - Thyroid hormone signaling
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U2 - 10.1007/s11357-020-00302-0
DO - 10.1007/s11357-020-00302-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096372531
JO - GeroScience
JF - GeroScience
SN - 2509-2715
ER -