Inflammation linked to faster muscle decline in older adults
Across four assessments, muscle scores fell from 9.60 to 7.07; higher calorie intake was linked to slower decline in 1,035 older adults.
Limit: Muscle decline was represented by a composite score based on sex-specific rankings
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study followed 1,035 community-dwelling older adults in two Tuscan communities in Italy. Their mean starting age was 74.97 years, and 44.25% were men. Researchers analyzed four assessment waves. They combined leg muscle mass and density, grip strength and leg power into a score from 0 to 20, with lower scores indicating worse muscle function. They also measured interleukin-6, a protein used to assess inflammation, and estimated calorie intake using interviewer-led food questionnaires.
Higher interleukin-6 levels were associated with faster declines in muscle scores. Higher calorie intake was associated with higher scores and slower decline. Higher intake was also linked to a partial weakening of the association between inflammation and declining scores. The analyses accounted for age, sex, body mass index and multiple chronic diseases.
Why it matters
Tracking several aspects of muscle health together may help identify potentially modifiable factors associated with functional decline as people age, the authors suggest.
Caveats
This observational study cannot show that inflammation caused muscle decline or that eating more slowed it; calorie intake came from questionnaires. The findings may not extend beyond community-dwelling older adults in these two Tuscan communities.
The paper
University of Chieti-Pescara; National Institutes of Health
Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, Aug 2026, Open access
