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Review
. 2025 May 8;61(5):866.
doi: 10.3390/medicina61050866.

Genetic Patterns Related with the Development and Progression of Sarcopenia and Sarcopenic Obesity: A Systematic Review

Andreea-Dalila Nedelcu  1   2 , Andreea-Bianca Uzun  1   2 , Viorela-Mihaela Ciortea  3 , Laszlo Irsay  3 , Liliana-Elena Stanciu  1   2 , Dan Marcel Iliescu  2 , Florina Ligia Popa  4 , Mădălina-Gabriela Iliescu  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Genetic Patterns Related with the Development and Progression of Sarcopenia and Sarcopenic Obesity: A Systematic Review

Andreea-Dalila Nedelcu et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Despite their high prevalence, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity remain underdiagnosed worldwide, significantly impacting the health and quality of life of aging individuals. Due to their multifactorial nature, the current management strategies do not address their underlying pathogenesis. This systematic review aims to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with sarcopenia and/or sarcopenic obesity in humans. Materials and Methods. This systematic literature review followed the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)" guidelines and the protocol registered in PROSPERO. Extensive research was performed in six databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink) using keywords such as "sarcopenia", "sarcopenic obesity", "single nucleotide polymorphisms", "SNPs", and "genetic variants". The Q-Genie and ROBINS-E tools were utilized to assess the quality of the included studies. Results: The final analysis included 12 studies, which were classified as good-quality according to the Q-Genie assessment and indicated a low to moderate risk of bias according to the ROBINS-E evaluation, collectively identifying 43 SNPs significantly associated with sarcopenia or sarcopenic obesity. Specifically, 24 SNPs were linked to sarcopenia, while 19 were associated with sarcopenic obesity. Conclusions: Understanding the implications of SNPs provides valuable insights into individual susceptibility and the variability observed across populations, potentially leading to more targeted and effective diagnostic and treatment strategies. Advancing clinical practice requires ongoing research into the genetic aspects of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity.

Keywords: SNPs; sarcopenia; sarcopenic obesity; single-nucleotide polymorphisms.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Adapted PRISMA flow diagram. Source: [19].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The risk of bias assessment using ROBINS-E for the included studies [1,2,22,23,24,25,26,27,29,30,31].
Figure 3
Figure 3
A summary plot of ROBINS-E for the included studies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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