Abstract #1542

Skeletal muscle involvement in ageing: Exploring the relationship between MRI fat fraction and age in the muscles of the thigh

Jamie Scott¹, David A. Reiter², Fatemeh Adelnia³, Christopher M. Bergeron⁴, Kenneth W. Fishbein⁴, Max Yates¹, Richard G. Spencer⁴, Ailsa A. Welch¹, Luigi Ferrucci⁵, and Donnie Cameron^1,5,6

¹Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, ²Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States, ³Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁵Translational Gerontology Branch, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁶Department of Medical Imaging, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands

Synopsis

Keywords: Muscle, Aging, Sarcopenia, muscle quality, fat replacement

Motivation: Deposition of fat in skeletal muscle increases with age, leading to reduced muscle quality, but it is currently unclear which muscles are affected first and thus may serve as markers for the onset of this process.

Goal(s): To measure intramuscular fat in individual thigh muscles in a healthy ageing cohort.

Approach: We applied chemical-shift-based water-fat-separation imaging in 94 participants (median age=56, range=22-89yrs), and proton density fat fraction was calculated for 12 thigh muscles and different muscle groups.

Results: We showed age associations with fat deposition in the whole thigh overall (β=0.60, p≪0.001), with associations being stronger in women and in the hamstring muscles.

Impact: Understanding the relationship between proton density fat fraction and age in the thigh musculature—particularly in women and in the hamstring muscles—will help clinicians to identify specific muscle targets for interventions designed to reduce functional decline with ageing.

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