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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1513253

Gut microbiota in patients with sarcopenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Provisionally accepted
GUANGNING WANG GUANGNING WANG 1Yujie Li Yujie Li 2Huisong Liu Huisong Liu 3Xinjuan Yu Xinjuan Yu 3*
  • 1 Department of Critical Care Medicine, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, China
  • 2 Qingdao Women and Infants Hospital, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
  • 3 Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Intestinal dysbiosis was considered a pivotal pathological mechanism underlying sarcopenia. Despite the fervor surrounding research in this domain, substantial controversy persists regarding the obtained outcomes.Objective: To systematically summarized the disparities in gut microbiota composition between the group afflicted by sarcopenia and non-sarcopenia controls.Methods: PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholer, Cochrane Library and grey literature sources were systematically searched for in randomized controlled trials. Meta-analysis and random-effects meta-regression were conducted using Rev Man 5.3. Overall effect was measured using Hedges's g and determined using Z-statistics. Cochran's Q test and I 2 were used to investigate heterogeneity. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess overall quality of evidence.Results: Ten studies, including 421 cases of sarcopenia and 1642 cases of controls, were included in the meta-analysis. Patients with sarcopenia showed significantly reduced gut microbiota in α diversity, and β diversity was significantly different in 8/9 of included studies. We also found more abundance of phylum Proteobacteria and genus Escherichia-Shigella, and less abundance of phylum Firmicutes and genus Faecalibacterium, Prevotella 9, Blautia in the sarcopenia group.The gut microbiota composition in patients with sarcopenia has undergone alterations, serving as a fundamental reference for further investigation into the potential pathogenic mechanisms and treatment strategies for sarcopenia.

    Keywords: Gut Microbiota, Sarcopenia, Musculoskeletal Diseases, Effects, Meta - analysis

    Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 WANG, Li, Liu and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Xinjuan Yu, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.