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Plasma ghrelin concentration is a signal of decreased fat free mass in healthy elderly females
Author(s) -
Jürimäe Jaak,
Kums Tatjana,
Jürimäe Toivo
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.20887
Subject(s) - ghrelin , medicine , endocrinology , leptin , trunk , body mass index , fat mass , insulin , basal (medicine) , hormone , chemistry , obesity , biology , ecology
This study aimed to evaluate whether circulating ghrelin is associated with changes in different body composition parameters over a 12‐month prospective study period in healthy older females. On 41 postmenopausal women (mean age: 71.0 ± 6.5 years), ghrelin, leptin, insulin resistance (IR), and body composition parameters were assessed before and after the study period. Trunk fat: leg fat ratio (+3.6%), fat free mass (FFM) (−4.1%), glucose (+5.8%), and IR (+7.0%) were significantly changed ( P < 0.05), whereas no changes in height, body mass, body mass index, fat mass (FM), %FM, trunk fat, leptin, ghrelin, and insulin were observed as a result of study period. At baseline, ghrelin correlated negatively ( r > −0.306; P < 0.05) with body mass, FM, %FM, trunk fat, FFM, leptin, insulin, and IR. Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that baseline ghrelin concentration was significantly associated only with the mean change in FFM value over the 12‐month study period. In conclusion, basal ghrelin concentration predicted the loss of FFM in healthy elderly females. In addition, these results suggest that circulating ghrelin concentration could be regarded as a signal of decreased FFM in healthy elderly females. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.