Diabetes and sarcopenia are emerging as serious public health issues. Sarcopenia, an age-related disorder characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, is recognized as a new complication in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, accumulation of advanced glycation products and increased oxidative stress, which can negatively affect skeletal muscle mass, strength and function leading to sarcopenia. There is a mutual interrelationship between T2DM and sarcopenia in light of pathophysiology mechanism and long-term outcome. T2DM will accelerate the decline of muscle mass and function, which will in turn lead to glucose metabolism disorders, reduced physical activity and the risk of diabetes. However, the specific mechanism involved has not been thoroughly studied. Therefore, this review aims to explore the pathophysiology and therapeutic strategy related to sarcopenia and diabetes and provide insight for future investigations, which is of great significance for improving the quality of life in the elderly with diabetes and concurrently reducing the incidence of related complications.
Keywords: gut microbiota; inflammation; insulin resistance; sarcopenia; therapeutic strategy; type 2 diabetes mellitus.
© 2023 Chen et al.