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Abstract #0253

The relationship of walking speed metrics to phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 31 P-MRS) bioenergetic measurements in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)

Seongjin Choi 1 , David A. Reiter 2 , Kenneth W. Fishbein 2 , Eleanor M. Simonsick 1 , Richard G. Spencer 2 , and Luigi Ferrucci 3

1 Translational Gerontology Branch, NIH/National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 2 Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, NIH/National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 3 Intramural Research Program, NIH/National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Gait speed is an important predictor of morbidity in the elderly and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function plays a central role in mobility. 31 P MRS of skeletal muscle permits evaluation of mitochondrial function through the phosphocreatine recovery rate (k PCr ) after exercise. In this cross-sectional study using the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging cohort we assessed associations between 31 P MRS-determined mitochondrial function, age and four walking speed metrics. We found that k PCr , a marker of mitochondrial synthetic capacity, had the strongest correlation with 400 m walk performance at maximum pace, which was the most strenuous ambulatory exercise among the four walking metrics.

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