Low plasma carotenoids and skeletal muscle strength decline over 6 years.
BACKGROUND
Higher intake of fruits and vegetables appears to protect against inflammation, poor physical performance, and disability, but its relationship with muscle strength is unclear. We examined the association between total plasma carotenoids, an indicator of fruit and vegetable intake, and changes in muscle strength over a 6-year follow-up in the participants aged 65 years and older in the InCHIANTI study, a population-based study in Tuscany, Italy.


METHODS
Plasma carotenoids were measured at enrollment (1998-2000). Hip, knee, and grip strength were measured at enrollment and 6 years later (2004-2006) in 628 of the 948 participants evaluated at baseline. Poor muscle strength was defined as the lowest sex-specific quartile of hip, knee, and grip strength at enrollment. The main outcome was poor muscle strength at the 6-year follow-up visit among those participants originally in the upper three quartiles of strength at enrollment.


RESULTS
Overall, 24.9% (110/441), 25.0% (111/444), and 24.9% (118/474) participants developed poor hip, knee, and grip strength, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in the lowest versus the highest quartile of total plasma carotenoids at enrollment were at higher risk of developing poor hip (odds ratio [OR] = 3.01, 95% CI, 1.43-6.31, p =.004), knee (OR = 2.89, 95% CI, 1.38-6.02, p =.005), and grip (OR = 1.88, 95% CI, 0.93-3.56, p =.07) muscle strength at the 6-year follow-up visit.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that older community-dwelling adults with lower plasma carotenoids levels, a marker of poor fruit and vegetable intake, are at a higher risk of decline in skeletal muscle strength over time.
Lauretani
Fulvio
F
Tuscany Regional Health Agency, Florence, Italy.
Semba
Richard D
RD
Bandinelli
Stefania
S
Dayhoff-Brannigan
Margaret
M
Giacomini
Vittoria
V
Corsi
Anna Maria
AM
Guralnik
Jack M
JM
Ferrucci
Luigi
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors
D002338:Carotenoids