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Association between muscular strength and inflammatory markers among elderly persons with cardiac disease: results from the KORA-Age study

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Abstract

Little is known about the association between muscle strength and inflammation in diseased individuals and particularly in cardiac patients. Thus, our purpose was to examine the association of muscular strength with the inflammatory status in older adults with and without cardiac disease. The cross-sectional analysis was based on 1079 adults aged 65–94 years, who participated in the KORA-Age study. Participants underwent an interview and extensive physical examinations including anthropometric measurements, registration of diseases and drug intake, determination of health-related behaviors, collection of blood samples for measurements of interleukin-6 and hs-CRP and muscle strength measurement using hand-grip dynamometry. Cardiac patients (n = 323) had higher levels of IL-6 and poorer muscle strength compared with older adults without cardiac disease. Among persons with cardiac diseases, muscle strength in the lower tertile compared to the upper tertile was significantly associated with increased odds of having elevated IL-6 levels (OR 3.53, 95 % CI 1.18–10.50, p = 0.024) after controlling for age, gender, body fat, alcohol intake, smoking status, diseases, medications and physical activity, whereas the association between muscle strength and hs-CRP remained borderline significant (OR 2.80, 95 % CI 0.85–9.24, p = 0.092). The same trends, with slightly lower odds ratios, were also observed in older adults without cardiac disease. Lower levels of muscular strength are associated with higher concentrations of IL-6 and hs-CRP in elderly individuals with and without cardiac disease suggesting a significant contribution of the muscular system in reducing low-grade inflammation that accompanies cardiac disease and aging.

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Acknowledgments

The KORA-Age study was part of the program “Health in Old Age”, which was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF FKZ 01ET0713). The KORA-Age project was conducted on the KORA platform (KORA, Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg), which was initiated and financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology as well as the State of Bavaria. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Prevention and Sports Medicine, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Georg-Brauchle Ring 56 (Campus C), 80992, Munich, Germany

      K. A. Volaklis & M. Halle

    2. 7FIT Cardiac Rehabilitation Center, Augsburg, Germany

      K. A. Volaklis

    3. DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany

      M. Halle

    4. Else-Kröner-Fresenius-Zentrum, Munich, Germany

      M. Halle

    5. Department of Internal Medicine II-Cardiology, University of Ulm Medical Center, Ulm, Germany

      W. Koenig

    6. Preventative Pediatrics, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany

      R. Oberhoffer

    7. Institute of Medical Information Processing, Biometry and Epidemiology, and German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität (LMU), Munich, Germany

      E. Grill

    8. Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

      A. Peters, M. Heier, R. Emeny, K. H. Ladwig, C. Meisinger & B. Thorand

    9. Institute for Nutritional Sciences and Physiology, UMIT, Hall in Tirol, Austria

      B. Strasser

    10. Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany

      H. Schulz

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    1. K. A. Volaklis
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    2. M. Halle
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    Correspondence to K. A. Volaklis.

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    C. Meisinger and B. Thorand contributed equally.

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    Volaklis, K.A., Halle, M., Koenig, W. et al. Association between muscular strength and inflammatory markers among elderly persons with cardiac disease: results from the KORA-Age study. Clin Res Cardiol 104, 982–989 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00392-015-0867-7

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00392-015-0867-7

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