Skeletal muscle morphology in sarcopenia defined using the EWGSOP criteria: findings from the Hertfordshire Sarcopenia Study (HSS)

Table 2 Muscle morphology according to sarcopenia status among community dwelling older men

	No sarcopenia		Sarcopenia		P value**
	N	Mean (SD)	N	Mean (SD)	P value**
Fibre morphology
Satellite cell density (cell/ mm²) ^a	63	3.8 (2.4)	6	1.7 (2.2)	0.061
Satellite cells to fibre ratio	63	0.06 (0.04)	6	0.02 (0.02)	0.063
Fibre counts	63	187.9 (1.96)	6	207.3 (2.07)	-
Slow fibre proportion (%)	91	44.3 (12.4)	6	40.8 (24.0)	0.530
Fast fibre proportion (%)	91	55.7 (12.4)	6	59.2 (24.0)	0.530
Slow fibre area (μm²)	88	4820 (1198)	5	4113 (1122)	0.202
Fast fibre area (μm²)	88	3960 (1115)	5	3397 (1363)	0.280
Capillary density (capillary/mm²)	88	146.9 (42.8)	6	150.2 (55.3)	0.856
Capillary: fibre ratio	88	1.3 (0.3)	6	1.2 (0.4)	0.493
Fibre counts	88	241.9 (105.0)	6	350.8 (164.0)	-

^aGeometric mean (SD)
** p value for t-test between non sarcopenic and sarcopenic individuals as defined by the EWGSOP criteria
Sarcopenia status could not to be determined for two participants because of missing walking speed data hence maximum sample size of 97

ISSN: 1471-2318