Assessment of skeletal muscle alterations and circulating myokines in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: A cross-sectional study

Table 1 Characteristics of the study population according to the stage of liver fibrosis assessed with transient elastography (n = 62), mean ± standard deviation/n (%)

Characteristics	F0-F2 (n = 44)	F3-F4 (n = 18)	P value
Age (years)	59.36 ± 11.36	63.17 ± 10.81	0.230
Men	23 (56.1)	11 (61.1)	0.780
Caucasian race	42 (95.4)	17 (94.4)	0.957
Body mass index (kg/m2)	32.32 ± 4.49	30.72 ± 4.30	0.203
Arterial hypertension	13 (29.5)	7 (38.9)	0.557
Diabetes	16 (39.0)	10 (55.6)	0.257
Glucose (mg/dL)	93.4 ± 17.5	99.2 ± 19.1	0.473
Insulin (μU/L)	12.5 ± 6.1	14.2 ± 3.5	0.235
HOMA-IR score	5.16 ± 3.12	5.27 ± 3.95	0.909
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	108.3 ± 51.4	143.1 ± 64.6	0.097
HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)	49.5 ± 10.9	44.7 ± 12.3	0.479
ALT (IU/L)	17.1 ± 6.8	29.3 ± 5.7	0.137
AST (IU/L)	14.5 ± 4.4	24.1 ± 6.2	0.151
-GT (IU/L)	30.8 ± 29.1	36.5 ± 24.8	0.324
Ferritin (ng/mL)	65.1 ± 69.1	82.5 ± 50.6	0.079
CAP (dB/m)	323.64 ± 48.35	327.50 ± 31.49	0.756
Liver elastography (kPa)	6.01 ± 1.67	15.35 ± 7.36	< 0.001
Hand grip strength (kg)
Men	33.62 ± 6.02	32.19 ± 5.45	0.523
Women	20.18 ± 4.69	17.00 ± 2.15	0.100
ASMM (kg)	22.66 ± 5.21	22.44 ± 6.20	0.887
LFI (a.u)	3.94 ± 0.43	4.11 ± 0.39	0.173
Robust	2 (4.5)	0 (0)
Pre-fragile	36 (81.8)	14 (71.8)
Fragile	4 (9.1)	3 (16.7)
Peritoneal adipose tissue (cm2)	0.84 ± 0.41	0.98 ± 0.64	0.334
Fat mass (%)	34.89 ± 8.53	32.53 ± 6.43	0.296
Skeletal muscle mass (%)	28.92 ± 5.92	30.67 ± 5.81	0.293
Skeletal muscle index (kg/m2)	9.34 ± 1.80	9.59 ± 1.84	0.633

ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; ASMM: Appendicular skeletal muscle mass; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; CAP: Controlled attenuation parameter; F0-F2: Lower stages of liver fibrosis; F3-F4: Higher stages of liver fibrosis; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; HOMA-IR: Homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance; γ-GT: γ-glutamyl transpeptidase; LFI: Liver frailty index.

Table 2 Serum myokine levels according to the stage of liver fibrosis assessed with transient elastography (n = 62), mean ± standard deviation

Characteristics	F0-F2 (n = 44)	F3-F4 (n = 18)	P value
Apelin (pg/mL)	155.79 ± 123.40	109.44 ± 66.48	0.138
Fractalkine (pg/mL)	511.46 ± 273.69	438.57 ± 249.46	0.333
BDNF (pg/mL)	8234.10 ± 6468.53	5858.89 ± 3471.89	0.147
Erythropoietin (pg/mL)	2822.21 ± 1209.41	2471.33 ± 1039.91	0.286
Osteonectin (ng/mL)	693.27 ± 203.90	622.93 ± 329.70	0.311
LIF (pg/mL)	6.18 ± 7.25	4.23 ± 3.98	0.825
IL-15 (pg/mL)	4.66 ± 4.76	3.72 ± 2.56	0.991
Myostatin/GDF8 (pg/mL)	1148.66 ± 2135.60	889.09 ± 1361.17	0.850
FABP3 (pg/mL)	2067.59 ± 716.21	1941.87 ± 937.38	0.569
Irisin (pg/mL)	1016.74 ± 1110.38	1036.43 ± 1169.30	0.950
FSTL-1 (pg/mL)	7368.05 ± 4937.52	8009.91 ± 9363.92	0.726
Oncostatin M (pg/mL)	10.98 ± 7.45	11.17 ± 7.45	0.927
IL-6 (pg/mL)	3.17 ± 3.92	2.59 ± 2.72	0.661
FGF21 (pg/mL)	95.62 ± 83.67	197.49 ± 198.27	0.049

BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; F0-F2: Lower stages of liver fibrosis; F3-F4: Higher stages of liver fibrosis; FABP3: Fatty acid binding protein 3; FGF21: Fibroblast growth factor 21; FSTL-1: Follistatin-like 1; GDF8: Growth differentiation factor 8; IL: Interleukin; LIF: Leukemia inhibitory factor.

Table 3 Serum myokine levels according to the grade of hepatosteatosis assessed with controlled attenuation parameter (n = 62), mean ± standard deviation

Characteristics	< S3 (n = 8)	S3 (n = 54)	P value
Apelin (pg/mL)	121.56 ± 155.93	145.42 ± 104.90	0.576
Fractalkine (pg/mL)	427.32 ± 270.19	499.63 ± 267.74	0.479
BDNF (pg/mL)	6999.39 ± 4117.58	7625.28 ± 6073.10	0.780
Erythropoietin (pg/mL)	2314.56 ± 1846.11	2780.46 ± 1200.06	0.295
Osteonectin (ng/mL)	690.85 ± 177.12	670.19 ± 256.11	0.827
LIF (pg/mL)	3.09 ± 2.20	5.99 ± 6.84	0.407
IL-15 (pg/mL)	2.88 ± 1.72	4.61 ± 4.46	0.405
Myostatin/GDF8 (pg/mL)	420.22 ± 797.45	1170.05 ± 2037.86	0.314
FABP3 (pg/mL)	2216.38 ± 729.02	2003.64 ± 791.00	0.477
Irisin (pg/mL)	385.21 ± 375.98	1116.87 ± 1161.86	0.001
FSTL-1 (pg/mL)	6256.33 ± 5857.72	7746.70 ± 6571.10	0.547
Oncostatin M (pg/mL)	10.83 ± 7.17	11.07 ± 7.48	0.934
IL-6 (pg/mL)	1.09 ± 1.02	3.29 ± 3.76	0.051
FGF21 (pg/mL)	88.20 ± 76.65	130.67 ± 140.63	0.437

BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; FABP3: Fatty acid binding protein 3; FGF21: Fibroblast growth factor 21; FSTL-1: Follistatin-like 1; GDF8: Growth differentiation factor 8; IL: Interleukin; LIF: Leukemia inhibitory factor; S3: Highest grade of hepatosteatosis.