Abstract
BACKGROUND: Muscle mass is associated with physical and functional performance across adulthood. Its reduction plays a crucial role in the development of age-related conditions such as frailty and sarcopenia. Genetic variations potentially impact muscle health, particularly in an aged population. OBJECTIVES: For this reason, we aimed to evaluate the association between genetic biomarkers and appendicular lean mass index (ALMI), a marker of muscle health, to identify possible risk factors for age-related sarcopenia in a population-based study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We cross-sectionally analyzed data collected in 2015 from the São Paulo Epidemiologic Sleep Study (EPISONO). Participants underwent bioelectrical impedance and genetic evaluations. RESULTS: After adjusting the data for age and sex, 12 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were significantly associated with ALMI. Among them, rs9928094 (beta = -0.031 p = 0.029) and rs9930333 (beta = -0.030 p = 0.035) are located in the FTO gene, which is related to obesity and fat gain and, rs16839632 (beta = 0.038 p = 0.029) located in the FMN2 gene, responsible for actin cytoskeleton and cell polarity. CONCLUSIONS: Poor muscle health is a multifactorial condition and genetic biomarkers can support the stratification of the risk for adverse body composition states affecting muscle and physical performance across adulthood.