Skeletal and cardiac muscle longitudinal associations in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, has been linked to adverse health outcomes. Cross-sectional associations have been observed between skeletal and cardiac muscle mass and function in healthy, community-dwelling older adults during normative aging. Further longitudinal studies on the skeletal muscle-cardiac axis during aging are needed to inform the temporal patterns and impact of these associations. METHODS: ) were examined using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression. Continuous variables are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). RESULTS: (p = 0.642). CONCLUSIONS: Among community-dwelling normative aging adults, age-associated decline in skeletal muscle mass correlated with reductions in LVM and function, independently of age, sex, and hemodynamic loading conditions. Our findings suggest a skeletal muscle-cardiac axis characterized by parallel declines beginning in early aging, preceding cardiovascular disease. Further studies exploring cardiac and skeletal muscle aging-related declines may direct interventions to halt these adverse processes concurrently.