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. 2021 Aug 13;76(9):1591-1599.
doi: 10.1093/gerona/glab020.

The Association of Muscle Mass Measured by D3-Creatine Dilution Method With Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry and Physical Function in Postmenopausal Women

Kexin Zhu  1 , Jean Wactawski-Wende  1 , Heather M Ochs-Balcom  1 , Michael J LaMonte  1 , Kathleen M Hovey  1 , William Evans  2   3 , Mahalakshmi Shankaran  3 , Bruce R Troen  4 , Hailey R Banack  1
Affiliations

The Association of Muscle Mass Measured by D3-Creatine Dilution Method With Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry and Physical Function in Postmenopausal Women

Kexin Zhu et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: The D3-creatine (D3Cr) dilution method provides a direct measure of skeletal muscle. The aim of this study was to compare the association of D3Cr muscle mass with lean body mass (LBM) measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and examine its relation with physical function in postmenopausal women.

Methods: Seventy-four community-dwelling women (mean age 82.3 ± 5.4) participated in this pilot study from the Buffalo, New York clinical site of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). Participants attended a clinic visit which included anthropometric measures, blood draw, DXA scan, measures of physical function, and initiated the D3Cr protocol. Physical function was evaluated using hand grip strength, short physical performance battery (SPPB), and RAND-36 physical function scale. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were used to examine the associations of D3Cr muscle mass with functional outcomes.

Results: D3-creatine muscle mass was moderately correlated with DXA LBM (r = 0.50) and DXA appendicular lean mass (ALM) (r = 0.50). Individuals with high D3Cr muscle mass (%) had higher physical function compared to individuals with low muscle mass (%), indicated by high scores on SPPB (odds ratio [OR] = 5.24; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.40, 19.58). We observed stronger relationships between high D3Cr and physical function than either DXA LBM (OR = 3.40; 95% CI: 0.88, 13.11) or DXA ALM (OR = 4.15; 95% CI: 1.10, 15.68) and physical function.

Conclusions: Our findings provide strong preliminary data for the associations of D3Cr muscle mass with measures of physical function in older women. These findings support and extend prior work on D3Cr muscle mass in older men.

Keywords: ALM; DXA; Lean body mass; Physical performance; Sarcopenia.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Correlations between D3Cr muscle mass and DXA LBM or DXA ALM, with absolute values and values scaled to weight, height2, and BMI. ALM = appendicular lean mass; BMI = body mass index; D3Cr = D3-creatine; DXA = dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; LBM = lean body mass. The curved line represents a quadratic prediction line.
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