Experimental gerontologyAug 18, 2022

Muscle loss in older adults living at home is linked to differences in gut bacteria

Gut-Brain Axis Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 3, 2026

Abstract

Diversities at the species level in gut microbiota were detected between older adults with sarcopenia and those without (P = 0.049).

The abundance of Prevotella and Prevotella copri was significantly lower in individuals with sarcopenia (P = 0.021 and P = 0.018, respectively).
Individuals with sarcopenia exhibited a higher abundance of Parabacteroides sp. compared to the control group (P = 0.010).
Differences in microbiota composition were identified between older adults with and without sarcopenia.
Sarcopenia was associated with the presence of Anaerotruncus and Phascolarctobacterium sp., while Prevotella sp. and Prevotella copri were absent in those with sarcopenia.
Further research is warranted to determine if changes in gut microbiota could influence the onset or progression of sarcopenia.

Simplified

Sarcopenia is a prognostic indicator of negative consequences in older adults, including physical disability, frailty, and mortality. Few studies have investigated the associations between sarcopenia and the gut microbiota. We sought such associations in community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years. Sarcopenia was defined as low muscle mass, plus reduced physical performance, and/or low skeletal muscle strength. 16S rRNA next-generation sequencing was used to identify the components of the gut microbiota in fecal samples from 27 older adults with sarcopenia and 33 without sarcopenia. Relationships between sarcopenia and the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota were analyzed. Diversities at the species level were detected between the sarcopenia and control groups (P = 0.049). The abundance of Prevotella and Prevotella copri was significantly lower (P = 0.021 and P = 0.018 respectively) and that of Parabacteroides sp. higher in the sarcopenia than the control group (P = 0.010). Linear discriminant analysis of effect size revealed differences in the microbiota composition between the two groups. Sarcopenia was related with the presence of Anaerotruncus and Phascolarctobacterium sp. and the absence of Prevotella sp. and Prevotella copri. Further research is warranted to clarify whether changes in the gut microbiota cause sarcopenia onset or development.

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Competing interests

Declaration of competing interest Authors Jaewoong Bae and Nakwon Hwang were employed by the company BioEleven Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

PubMed

Muscle loss in older adults living at home is linked to differences in gut bacteria

Abstract

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Competing interests

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