Background and study aim: Liver cirrhosis is an end-stage liver disease that occurs due to exposure of the liver to damage and inflammation for a prolonged time. It is characterized by replacing normal liver tissue with nonfunctional scar tissue. Sarcopenia is a muscle disorder that is seen in about 70% of patients with advanced liver disease and is characterized by progressive loss of all skeletal muscle mass and function. Our study assessed the correlation between serum irisin concentration and sarcopenia in cirrhotic patients.
Patients and Methods: This case-control cohort study was conducted on three groups, group I (cirrhotic sarcopenic group of 40 patients), group II (cirrhotic nonsarcopenic group of 40 patients), and group III included 20 healthy control subjects. Serum level of irisin and Skeletal muscle index (SMI) at the level of the third lumbar vertebra (L3) were measured for all groups.
Results: Our study revealed that serum irisin concentrations were lower in cirrhotic sarcopenic than cirrhotic non-sarcopenic patients than control group with mean values (of 9.51 ng/ml, 31.40 ng/ml, and 58 ng/ml) respectively and there was a statistical significant decrease in skeletal muscle index (SMI) in cirrhotic sarcopenic than cirrhotic non-sarcopenic and control group with mean values (36 cm2/m2, 45.9 cm2/m2, 52.3 cm2/m2) respectively.
Conclusion: Serum irisin is a useful marker in the diagnosis of sarcopenia in cirrhotic patients. Irisin can be an independent predictor of sarcopenia in patients with liver cirrhosis.