Thigh muscles are more susceptible to age-related muscle loss when compared to lower leg and pelvic muscles

Abstract

Background: A key hallmark of aging is the progressive loss of skeletal muscle mass. Due to limitations of the various methods typically applied to assess muscle mass, only limited information is available on age-related differences between various muscle groups. This study assessed differences in individual lower body muscle group volumes between healthy young and older males.

Methods: Lower body muscle mass assessments were performed in 10 young (age: 27 ± 4 y) and 10 older (age: 71 ± 6 y) healthy, male adults using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA), single slice (thigh) Computed Tomography (CT), as well as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Muscle volumes of all individual muscle groups in the lower body were assessed by MRI.

Results: Leg lean mass, as assessed with DXA, was not significantly different between older (9.2 ± 1.0 kg) and young (10.5 ± 2.0 kg) men (P = 0.075). Thigh muscle cross-sectional area, as assessed with CT, was significantly lower (by 13 %) in the older (137 ± 17 cm²) compared to young (157 ± 24 cm²) participants (P = 0.044). MRI-derived lower body muscle volume was also significantly lower (by 20 %) in older (6.7 ± 0.9 L) compared to young (8.3 ± 1.3 L) men (P = 0.005). This was primarily attributed to substantial differences in thigh (24 %), rather than lower leg (12 %) and pelvis (15 %) muscle volume in the older vs the young. Thigh muscle volume averaged 3.4 ± 0.5 L in older and 4.5 ± 0.7 L in young men (P = 0.001). Of all thigh muscle groups, the quadriceps femoris showed the most profound difference (30 %) between young (2.3 ± 0.4 L) and older (1.6 ± 0.2 L) men (P < 0.001).

Conclusions: The most profound differences in lower body muscle volume between young and older men are observed in the thigh. Within the thigh muscle groups, the quadriceps femoris shows the largest difference in muscle volume between young and older men. Finally, DXA appears less sensitive when compared to CT and MRI to assess age-related differences in muscle mass.

Keywords: Aging; Computed tomography; Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; Magnetic resonance imaging; Quadriceps femoris; Sarcopenia.