Research

Mixed

Sarcopenia is associated with an overrepresentation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis pathways in the gut microbiome, suggesting a pro-inflammatory state that may drive muscle catabolism.

The study suggests that sarcopenic individuals may have gut bacteria that produce more inflammatory endotoxins (LPS). This chronic low-grade inflammation may contribute to muscle breakdown. Managing gut inflammation through diet (e.g., reducing processed foods that feed pathogenic bacteria) might help mitigate this inflammatory drive on muscle tissue.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
In contrast, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis was overrepresented in Case and PreCase subjects suggesting that sarcopenia is associated with a pro-inflammatory metagenome.
Lin Kang et al. · Scientific Reports · 2021

Why this rating

Functional pathways were predicted by PICRUSt from 16S data, not directly measured via metagenomics or metabolomics, limiting certainty.

Source

Alterations in intestinal microbiota diversity, composition, and function in patients with sarcopenia

Lin Kang et al. · Scientific Reports · 2021

DOI 10.1038/s41598-021-84031-0

cross_sectional · n=87Cited 171×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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