Serum Myostatin and IGF-1 as Gender-Specific Biomarkers of Frailty and Low Muscle Mass in Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: (i) To investigate serum myostatin (absolute and normalized for total body lean mass (TBLM)) and IGF-1 as biomarkers of frailty and low relative appendicular skeletal muscle mass (RASM) in older adults, and; (ii) to examine gender differences in the association of serum myostatin and IGF-1 levels with frailty and low RASM. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The "Longitudinal Assessment of Biomarkers for characterization of early Sarcopenia and predicting frailty and functional decline in community-dwelling Asian older adults Study" (GERI-LABS) study in Singapore. PARTICIPANTS: 200 subjects aged 50 years and older residing in the community. MEASUREMENTS: Frailty was assessed using the modified Fried criteria. Low RASM was defined using cutoffs for height-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry as recommended by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Comorbidities, cognitive and functional performance, physical activity and nutritional status were assessed. Blood samples collected included serum myostatin, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and markers of inflammation (total white cell count, CRP, IL-6 and TNFaR1). Subjects were classified into 4 groups: Frail/Prefrail with low RASM (Frail/Low RASM), Frail/Prefrail with normal RASM (Frail/Normal RASM), Robust with low RASM (Robust/Low RASM) and Robust with normal RASM (Robust/Normal RASM). RESULTS: 63 (32%) subjects were classified as Frail/Low RASM, 53 (27%) Frail/Normal RASM, 28 (14%) Robust/Low RASM and 56 (28%) Robust/Normal RASM respectively. Frail/Low RASM subjects were older and had lower BMI compared to Frail/Normal RASM and robust subjects. Mean (SE) normalized myostatin levels were higher in Frail/Low RASM compared to Frail/Normal RASM subjects (1.0 (0.04) versus 0.84 (0.05) ng/ml/kg, P=0.01). Median (IQR) IGF-1 level was lower amongst Frail/Low RASM subjects compared to Frail/Normal RASM subjects (102.3, (77.7, 102.5) vs 119.7 (82.7, 146.0) ng/ml, P=0.046). No differences in myostatin or IGF-1 were observed among robust individuals with or without low muscle mass. In adjusted multinomial logistic regression models with Robust/Normal RASM as the reference group, myostatin (P=0.05) and IGF-1 (P=0.043) were associated with Frail/Low RASM status in the whole cohort. When stratified by gender, myostatin was significantly associated with Frail/Low RASM status in men only (P=0.03). In women, serum IGF-1 was associated with Frail/Low RASM status (P=0.046), but not myostatin (P=0.53). CONCLUSION: Serum myostatin, normalized for TBLM in men and IGF-1 in women are potential biomarkers for frail individuals with low RASM, and may identify a target group for intervention.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Although myostatin levels increase with age in both men and women, older women tend to exhibit higher serum concentrations than age-matched men.
“Although myostatin levels increase with age in both men and women, older women tend to exhibit higher serum concentrations than age-matched men do.”
From Exercise-Induced Muscle–Fat Crosstalk: Molecular Mediators and Their Pharmacological Modulation for the Maintenance of Metabolic Flexibility in Aging (2025) · cites this paper as [64]
The Discussion says myostatin levels are higher in older sarcopenic women than younger women, but that the opposite is observed in men; it also refers explicitly to an age-associated decrease in men. The Results report higher levels in women than men only for myostatin normalized to lean mass, not the claimed higher serum concentrations in age-matched women. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThis may contribute to a greater predisposition to sarcopenia in elderly females.
“This may contribute to a greater predisposition to sarcopenia in elderly females [64].”
From Exercise-Induced Muscle–Fat Crosstalk: Molecular Mediators and Their Pharmacological Modulation for the Maintenance of Metabolic Flexibility in Aging (2025) · cites this paper as [64]
The Introduction (page unavailable) describes reduced IGF-1 as a possible female-specific pathway in sarcopenia, and the Discussion (page unavailable) reports an association between lower IGF-1 and frailty with low muscle mass in older women. The paper does not establish that older women are more predisposed to sarcopenia than older men, or that this pathway causes such a difference. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 42 · Cited by 88
- Authors
- Chew, J., Tay, L., Lim, J. P., Leung, B. P., Yeo, A., Yew, S., Ding, Y. Y., & Lim, W. S.
- Affiliations
- Tan Tock Seng Hospital (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Chew, Justin
- Venue
- The Journal of nutrition, health and aging
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-12
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 979-986
- ISSN
- 1279-7707 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12280681
- OpenAlex
- W2973965438
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 7.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The journal of nutrition health & aging (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Frailty in Older Adults
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Keywords
- myostatin, insulin-like growth factor I, frailty, sarcopenia, low muscle mass, appendicular skeletal muscle mass, gender differences, biomarkers, community-dwelling older adults, inflammation, community-acquired pneumonia, functional decline, Asian older adults, Singapore, Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia
- MeSH terms
- Frailty, Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Gender Identity, Humans, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Prospective Studies, Biomarkers, Myostatin, Sarcopenia, Independent Living
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
