Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Sep 18;12(9):2856.
doi: 10.3390/nu12092856.

Longitudinal Observation of Muscle Mass over 10 Years According to Serum Calcium Levels and Calcium Intake among Korean Adults Aged 50 and Older: The Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study

Young-Sang Kim  1 , Kyung-Won Hong  2 , Kunhee Han  3 , Yon Chul Park  4   5 , Jae-Min Park  6 , Kwangyoon Kim  7 , Bom-Taeck Kim  7
Affiliations

Longitudinal Observation of Muscle Mass over 10 Years According to Serum Calcium Levels and Calcium Intake among Korean Adults Aged 50 and Older: The Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study

Young-Sang Kim et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal change in muscle mass over 10 years according to serum calcium levels and calcium intake. A total of 1497 men and 1845 women aged 50 years and older were included. Significant muscle loss (SML) was defined as a 5% or greater loss from baseline, while time-dependent development of SML was assessed according to quartiles for corrected calcium level and daily calcium intake using Cox regression models. The incidence of SML was 6.7 and 7.7 per 100-person-years among men and women, respectively. Groups with the lowest corrected calcium levels had more prominent SML than those with higher calcium levels, regardless of sex. The relationship between SML and calcium intake was significant only among women. The hazard ratio for SML per 1 mmol/L increase in corrected calcium level was 0.236 and 0.237 for men and women, respectively. In conclusion, low serum calcium levels may predict SML among adults aged ≥ 50 years, while low calcium intake may be a predictor for muscle loss among women. Therefore, encouraging dietary calcium intake among middle-aged and older adults for preservation of muscle mass should be considered.

Keywords: calcium; calcium intake; muscle; muscle mass; serum calcium.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study. KoGES, the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study; HF, heart failure; CAD, coronary artery disease; CVA, cerebrovascular accident; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; AST, Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, Alanine aminotransferase; and eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Muscle mass change from baseline to 10th year according to quartiles for corrected calcium levels and daily calcium intake. Decreased muscle mass was observed as quartiles for corrected calcium levels escalated. In contrast, no significant difference in muscle loss was observed according to quartiles for calcium intake in both men and women. Error bars represent SEM.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cumulative incidence of significant muscle mass loss according to quartiles for corrected calcium level and daily calcium intake. Lower corrected calcium levels were significantly associated with loss of muscle mass (P < 0.001 using the log-rank test in both men and women). Daily calcium intake was associated with loss of muscle mass only among women (P = 0.004), not men (P = 0.124).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Hazard ratios for quartiles of corrected calcium levels and daily calcium intake. Models 0 and 1 are crude models for weight loss and muscle loss, respectively. Model 2 is a model for muscle loss adjusted for age, height, energy and protein intake, and lifestyle habits. Model 3 additionally adjusts for variables related to renin-angiotensin system and metabolic parameters. Model 4 additionally adjusts for history of hypertension and diabetes. Model 5 additionally adjusts for baseline muscle mass.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Delmonico M.J., Harris T.B., Visser M., Park S.W., Conroy M.B., Velasquez-Mieyer P., Boudreau R., Manini T.M., Nevitt M., Newman A.B., et al. Longitudinal study of muscle strength, quality, and adipose tissue infiltration. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2009;90:1579–1585. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28047. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Woo J., Leung J., Sham A., Kwok T. Defining sarcopenia in terms of risk of physical limitations: A 5-year follow-up study of 3,153 chinese men and women. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2009;57:2224–2231. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02566.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tanimoto Y., Watanabe M., Sun W., Sugiura Y., Tsuda Y., Kimura M., Hayashida I., Kusabiraki T., Kono K. Association between sarcopenia and higher-level functional capacity in daily living in community-dwelling elderly subjects in Japan. Arch. Gerontol. Geriatr. 2012;55:e9–e13. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2012.06.015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cruz-Jentoft A.J., Baeyens J.P., Bauer J.M., Boirie Y., Cederholm T., Landi F., Martin F.C., Michel J.P., Rolland Y., Schneider S.M., et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Ageing. 2010;39:412–423. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afq034. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen L.K., Liu L.K., Woo J., Assantachai P., Auyeung T.W., Bahyah K.S., Chou M.Y., Chen L.Y., Hsu P.S., Krairit O., et al. Sarcopenia in Asia: Consensus report of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 2014;15:95–101. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2013.11.025. - DOI - PubMed