Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men

Background Sarcopenia, a multifactorial disorder involving metabolic disturbance, suggests potential for metabolite biomarkers. Carnitine (CN), essential for skeletal muscle energy metabolism, may be a candidate biomarker. We investigated whether CN metabolites are biomarkers for sarcopenia. Methods...

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Main Authors: Je Hyun Seo, Jung-Min Koh, Han Jin Cho, Hanjun Kim, Young‑Sun Lee, Su Jung Kim, Pil Whan Yoon, Won Kim, Sung Jin Bae, Hong-Kyu Kim, Hyun Ju Yoo, Seung Hun Lee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Korean Endocrine Society 2025-02-01
Series:Endocrinology and Metabolism
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Online Access:http://e-enm.org/upload/pdf/enm-2024-2117.pdf
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author Je Hyun Seo
Jung-Min Koh
Han Jin Cho
Hanjun Kim
Young‑Sun Lee
Su Jung Kim
Pil Whan Yoon
Won Kim
Sung Jin Bae
Hong-Kyu Kim
Hyun Ju Yoo
Seung Hun Lee
author_facet Je Hyun Seo
Jung-Min Koh
Han Jin Cho
Hanjun Kim
Young‑Sun Lee
Su Jung Kim
Pil Whan Yoon
Won Kim
Sung Jin Bae
Hong-Kyu Kim
Hyun Ju Yoo
Seung Hun Lee
author_sort Je Hyun Seo
collection DOAJ
description Background Sarcopenia, a multifactorial disorder involving metabolic disturbance, suggests potential for metabolite biomarkers. Carnitine (CN), essential for skeletal muscle energy metabolism, may be a candidate biomarker. We investigated whether CN metabolites are biomarkers for sarcopenia. Methods Associations between the CN metabolites identified from an animal model of sarcopenia and muscle cells and sarcopenia status were evaluated in men from an age-matched discovery (72 cases, 72 controls) and a validation (21 cases, 47 controls) cohort. Results An association between CN metabolites and sarcopenia showed in mouse and cell studies. In the discovery cohort, plasma C5-CN levels were lower in sarcopenic men (P=0.005). C5-CN levels in men tended to be associated with handgrip strength (HGS) (P=0.098) and were significantly associated with skeletal muscle mass (P=0.003). Each standard deviation increase in C5-CN levels reduced the odds of low muscle mass (odd ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.89). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of CN score using a regression equation of C5-CN levels, for sarcopenia was 0.635 (95% CI, 0.544 to 0.726). In the discovery cohort, addition of CN score to HGS significantly improved AUROC from 0.646 (95% CI, 0.575 to 0.717; HGS only) to 0.727 (95% CI, 0.643 to 0.810; P=0.006; HGS+CN score). The improvement was confirmed in the validation cohort (AUROC=0.563; 95% CI, 0.470 to 0.656 for HGS; and AUROC=0.712; 95% CI, 0.569 to 0.855 for HGS+CN score; P=0.027). Conclusion C5-CN, indicative of low muscle mass, is a potential circulating biomarker for sarcopenia in men. Further studies are required to confirm these results and explore sarcopenia-related metabolomic changes.
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spelling doaj-art-b1f0ce3596a34d05802002ccb61fdd352025-08-20T03:04:26ZengKorean Endocrine SocietyEndocrinology and Metabolism2093-596X2093-59782025-02-014019310210.3803/EnM.2024.21172560Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in MenJe Hyun Seo0Jung-Min Koh1Han Jin Cho2Hanjun Kim3Young‑Sun Lee4Su Jung Kim5Pil Whan Yoon6Won Kim7Sung Jin Bae8Hong-Kyu Kim9Hyun Ju Yoo10Seung Hun Lee11 Veterans Medical Research Institute, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Biomedical Research Center, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Biomedical Research Center, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Biomedical Research Center, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Now Hospital, Anyang, Korea Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Health Screening and Promotion Center, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Health Screening and Promotion Center, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Institute for Life Sciences, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, KoreaBackground Sarcopenia, a multifactorial disorder involving metabolic disturbance, suggests potential for metabolite biomarkers. Carnitine (CN), essential for skeletal muscle energy metabolism, may be a candidate biomarker. We investigated whether CN metabolites are biomarkers for sarcopenia. Methods Associations between the CN metabolites identified from an animal model of sarcopenia and muscle cells and sarcopenia status were evaluated in men from an age-matched discovery (72 cases, 72 controls) and a validation (21 cases, 47 controls) cohort. Results An association between CN metabolites and sarcopenia showed in mouse and cell studies. In the discovery cohort, plasma C5-CN levels were lower in sarcopenic men (P=0.005). C5-CN levels in men tended to be associated with handgrip strength (HGS) (P=0.098) and were significantly associated with skeletal muscle mass (P=0.003). Each standard deviation increase in C5-CN levels reduced the odds of low muscle mass (odd ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.89). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of CN score using a regression equation of C5-CN levels, for sarcopenia was 0.635 (95% CI, 0.544 to 0.726). In the discovery cohort, addition of CN score to HGS significantly improved AUROC from 0.646 (95% CI, 0.575 to 0.717; HGS only) to 0.727 (95% CI, 0.643 to 0.810; P=0.006; HGS+CN score). The improvement was confirmed in the validation cohort (AUROC=0.563; 95% CI, 0.470 to 0.656 for HGS; and AUROC=0.712; 95% CI, 0.569 to 0.855 for HGS+CN score; P=0.027). Conclusion C5-CN, indicative of low muscle mass, is a potential circulating biomarker for sarcopenia in men. Further studies are required to confirm these results and explore sarcopenia-related metabolomic changes.http://e-enm.org/upload/pdf/enm-2024-2117.pdfagingmetabolomicssarcopeniabiomarkerscarnitine
spellingShingle Je Hyun Seo
Jung-Min Koh
Han Jin Cho
Hanjun Kim
Young‑Sun Lee
Su Jung Kim
Pil Whan Yoon
Won Kim
Sung Jin Bae
Hong-Kyu Kim
Hyun Ju Yoo
Seung Hun Lee
Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men
Endocrinology and Metabolism
aging
metabolomics
sarcopenia
biomarkers
carnitine
title Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men
title_full Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men
title_fullStr Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men
title_full_unstemmed Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men
title_short Carnitine Metabolite as a Potential Circulating Biomarker for Sarcopenia in Men
title_sort carnitine metabolite as a potential circulating biomarker for sarcopenia in men
topic aging
metabolomics
sarcopenia
biomarkers
carnitine
url http://e-enm.org/upload/pdf/enm-2024-2117.pdf
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