SARcopenia Assessment in Hypertension: The SARAH Study

To investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and RAS-related disorders and to explore the effects of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin-II receptor blockers (ARBs) on muscle mass/function and physical performance.This multi-center, cross-sectional study was performed using ISarcoPRM algorithm for the diagnosis of sarcopenia.Of the 2613 participants (mean age; 61.0 ± 9.5 years), 1775 (67.9%) were hypertensive. All sarcopenia-related parameters [except chair stand test (CST) in males] were worse in hypertensive group than in normotensive group (all p0.05). When clinical/potential confounders were adjusted; HT was found to be an independent predictor of sarcopenia in males [OR = 2.403 (95%CI: 1.514-3.813)] and females [OR = 1.906 (95%CI: 1.328-2.734)] (both p0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that all sarcopenia-related parameters (except grip strength and CST in males) were independently/negatively related with HT (all p0.05). In females, ACEIs users had higher grip strength and CST performance values but had lower muscle thickness and gait speed values, as compared to those using ARBs (all p0.05).Hypertension was associated with increased risk of sarcopenia at least two times. Among antihypertensives; while ACEIs had higher muscle values, ARBs had higher muscle mass and physical performance values only in females.