Sarcopenia and cognitive impairment: a multidimensional study of clinical associations, shared genetics, and causal links

Objective To comprehensively investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment by examining their clinical associations, shared genetic architecture, and potential causal links, using a multidimensional approach. Methods To assess the sarcopenia and cognitive impairment risk, multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was conducted on Wuhan Junshan Community data. Utilizing large-scale GWAS summary statistics, we identified potential genetic overlaps between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment. Cross-trait pleiotropic analyses were conducted to uncover shared genetic loci and pleiotropic genes between these conditions. Comprehensive functional annotation and tissue-specific expression analyses were then performed to characterize the biological roles of these shared genetic factors. Finally, we employed Mendelian randomization (MR) approaches to examine potential causal relationships between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment. Results In this study, we recruited 575 participants for this observational study. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression revealed a significant positive association between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment risk (OR = 3.26, 95% CI: 1.65 to 6.42). Genomic analysis revealed that there was a significant genetic correlation between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment, and 19 pairs of significantly correlated trait combinations were identified. Pleiotropic analysis revealed 79 risk loci and 428 pleiotropic genes such as FoxO3 and SLC39A8, which were enriched in neurodegenerative pathway and FoxO signaling pathway. MR analysis showed that appendicular lean mass and usual walking pace had potential causal protective effects on cognitive function, while low hand grip strength had the opposite effect. Conclusion This study provides evidence for both clinical and genetic links between sarcopenia and cognitive impairment, uncovering their potential biological mechanisms.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

• Publication date

  2025-12-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1708170PMID 41403900PMCID 12702854
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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