Association between urinary phytoestrogens and sarcopenia in older adults: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the association between urinary phytoestrogens and sarcopenia in people aged ≥60 years. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 1101 adults from the 2001-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States. Researchers measured the concentrations of six phytoestrogens (including four isoflavones and two lignans) in urine using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) or high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure photoionization-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ATP-MS). This study used weighted logistic regression and weighted subgroup analysis to explore the association between urinary phytoestrogen levels and sarcopenia, and evaluated nonlinear relationships using weighted restricted cubic spline analysis. RESULTS: The study encompassed a cohort of 1101 individuals, among whom 284 were diagnosed with sarcopenia. Weighted subgroup analysis revealed a significant interaction between Enterolactone (P for interaction = 0.021), total phytoestrogens (P for interaction = 0.013), and gender in the prevalence of sarcopenia. In the weighted restricted cubic spline regression model, O-DMA showed significant non-linear associations with the prevalence of sarcopenia (P for overall <0.05 and P for non-linear <0.05). CONCLUSION: This study indicates that phytoestrogens are associated with sarcopenia, and the direction of this association depends on the specific type of estrogen. The findings reveal that O-DMA, Enterolactone, and total phytoestrogens possess a preventive effect against sarcopenia in female and it also reveal that Daidzein possess a preventive effect against sarcopenia in male.