Prognostic networks for unraveling the biological mechanisms of Sarcopenia.

Sarcopenia is an age-related multifactorial process that involved several biological mechanisms, whose specific contribution and interplay is still unknown. The present study proposes prognostic networks based on machine learning approaches to unravel the interplay among those biological mechanisms mainly involved in the development of Sarcopenia. After analyzing 114 biological and clinical variables in adults older than 70 years, and using all the biological prognostic networks detected by machine learning with accuracy higher than 82%, we designed a consensus classifier based on majority vote that improve the predictive accuracy of Sarcopenia up to 91%. Additionally, we applied logistic regression analysis to propose the interplay among the most discriminative biological variables of Sarcopenia: anthropometry, body composition, functional performance of lower limbs, systemic oxidative stress, presence of depression and medication for the digestive system based on proton-pump inhibitors. Our data also demonstrate that besides a loss of muscle mass, impairments on functional performance of lower limbs are more relevant for develop Sarcopenia than those affecting the muscle strength.

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet Influences the Fecal Metabolic Profile of Microbial-Derived Phenolics in a Spanish Cohort of Middle-Age and Older People.

Despite the evidence regarding the influence of certain polyphenol food sources on the metabolic profile in feces, the association between the different phenolics provided by the diet and the fecal phenolic profile has not been elucidated. In this study, the composition of phenolic metabolites in fecal solutions was analyzed by UPLC-ESI-MS/MS in 74 volunteers. This fecal phenolic profile showed a high interindividual variation of the different compounds analyzed, phenylacetic and phenylpropionic acids being the major classes of phenolic metabolites excreted in feces. Subjects with higher adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern presented greater fecal concentrations of benzoic and 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acids, positively correlated with the intake of the principal classes and subclasses of polyphenols and fibers, and higher levels of Clostridium cluster XVIa and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. These results provide a link among the Mediterranean dietary pattern, the bioactive compounds of the diet, and the fecal metabolic phenolic profile.