Oral-Sarcopenia Nexus In Aging: Chewing And Blood Mediated Pathways

Aging impacts both oral health and skeletal muscle, but the associations between oral diseases and sarcopenia remain understudied, especially in low-income regions, prompting this study to investigate their connection and explore potential mediators. Data were extracted from the 2021-2022 follow-up of the West China Health and Aging Trend study. Assessments included questionnaires, oral examinations, muscle strength tests, physical performance tests, and routine blood tests. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the oral-sarcopenia nexus. Mediation analyses were evaluated using the bootstrap method. Among 532 adults aged 60 years and older, 75.6% were identified as having ≥20 remaining natural teeth (NRT), 25.8% were found with a number of functional tooth loss (NFTL) >16, and 50.4% experienced possible sarcopenia. After adjusting for confounding factors (including gender, household type, health insurance, pension, education, and living arrangements), older people with NRT ≥20 had a 50% lower risk of possible sarcopenia than those with NRT <20, mediated through chewing impairment (6.0%), immune-inflammation (5.4%), and AST/ALT ratio (8.4%). Conversely, those with NFTL >16 had a 95% higher risk of possible sarcopenia versus NFTL ≤16 counterparts, mediated by chewing impairment (6.1%), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (4.9%), and AST/ALT ratio (10.4%). These findings underscore the critical need for incorporating oral health interventions into aged care systems, particularly in low-income communities, so as to potentially reduce sarcopenia risks by addressing chewing capacity, systemic inflammation, and liver function through multidisciplinary strategies.