The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma ghrelin levels and sarcopenia in elderly people.

Cross-sectional study.

Health consortium medical centers in the Maresme region, Barcelona (Spain).

Two groups of subjects: persons ≥ 70 years (elderly group) and persons 25–65 years (young adults).

Sarcopenia, diagnosed according to the EWGSOP definition, fasting and postprandial plasma ghrelin levels, body composition, hand grip, Barthel score, and frailty using Fried criteria.

Fifty-five elderly subjects and 33 young adults were recruited. In both age groups, mean ghrelin levels were significantly higher in women than in men. However, mean ghrelin levels were similar in elderly and young men (716 vs. 752 pg mL-1, P = 0.763) as well as in elderly and young women (859 vs. 995 pg mL-1, P = 0.190). In the elderly group, subjects with sarcopenia showed significantly lower ghrelin levels than those without sarcopenia (650 vs. 899 pg mL-1, P = 0.036), but these differences disappeared when stratifying by gender. Elderly subjects without sarcopenia had the same ghrelin levels as young adults (899.3 vs. 899.6 pg mL-1). In young women, ghrelin levels correlated with fat free mass (rs = 0.58, P = 0.007) and muscular mass (rs = 0.54, P = 0.015) but these correlations were not observed in men nor in elderly women.

This cross-sectional study does not allow a definitive conclusion about the relationship between ghrelin levels and sarcopenia. Further large prospective studies are needed to test this hypothesis.