Rihong Bin,1 Xinsheng Zheng,1 Ju Luo,2 Zhijie Liu,2 Haiyan Zhong,2 Feike Yang2 

1Department of First-Aid Center, Zhuzhou Central Hospital, Zhuzhou, Hunan, 412000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Geriatric Medicine, Changsha Central Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, 410000, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Feike Yang, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Changsha Central Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, 410000, People’s Republic of China, Email yangfk2019wz@163.com

Objective: To identify the hub genes involved in sarcopenia and analyze their correlation with lipid metabolism.
Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from sarcopenia/non-sarcopenia cohorts in GSE111006 and GSE111010 datasets were cross-analyzed with diabetes-related genes (GeneCards). Key genes underwent functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis. The expression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the hub gene was analyzed in both datasets. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was utilized to quantify hub gene levels in sarcopenia, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and healthy samples.
Results: Twenty key genes were identified through differential expression and diabetes-related gene screening. Functional enrichment analysis revealed their involvement in external stimulus response, inflammatory regulation, extracellular processes, adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway, and insulin signaling pathways (p< 0.05). Adiponectin (ADIPOQ) emerged as the hub gene via PPI network analysis, showing significant overexpression in sarcopenia (GSE111006: p< 0.01; GSE111010: p< 0.05) with diagnostic AUCs of 0.944 (0.869– 1.000) and 0.696 (0.471– 0.920) respectively. Ultimately, 60 sarcopenia, 10 type 2 diabetes, 10 healthy samples were collected. Seventy percent of the samples exhibited abnormal lipid metabolism. Adiponectin (ADIPOQ) and AMPK were overexpressed in sarcopenia samples (p < 0.01). However, ADIPOQ and AMPK were no difference in the expression levels between individuals with T2DM and healthy individuals (p> 0.05). This study identified a significant correlation between ADIPOQ, AMPK, and blood lipids in sarcopenia (ADIPOQ vs AMPK, p < 0.0001, r = 0.736; ADIPOQ vs HDL-C, p = 0.0003, r = − 0.448; AMPK vs HDL-C, p = 0.001, r = − 0.415).
Conclusion: The present study confirms that glycolipid metabolism is a risk factor for sarcopenia. Both ADIPOQ and AMPK are overexpressed in sarcopenia and demonstrate a significant positive correlation. This study hypothesizes that ADIPOQ may regulate AMPK activity, affect lipid metabolism, and accelerate the occurrence and development of sarcopenia.

Keywords: sarcopenia, glycolipid metabolism, adiponectin, adenosine 5’-monophosphate-activated protein kinase, lipid metabolism