Certain cut-off points for sarcopenia screening and diagnosis are arbitrary and based on European populations, with normative references often obtained from healthy young adults. Although respiratory skeletal muscle strength tests represent low-cost clinical measures commonly performed in clinical practice by health professionals, a gap remains regarding whether respiratory skeletal muscle strength tests are adequate and sensitive measures for sarcopenia screening. This study aimed to verify the value of handgrip and respiratory muscle strength as possible discriminators to identify sarcopenia and to establish cut-off points for sarcopenia screening in community-dwelling, Brazilian women. In a cross-sectional study, 154 community-dwelling, Brazilian women (65–96 years) were assessed for appendicular skeletal muscle mass, handgrip (HGS), and respiratory muscular strength, including maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) and maximal expiratory pressure (MEP). The data were analyzed using the ROC curve and the Youden Index determined cut-off points. Statistical significance was set at 5%. 88 participants (57%) were sarcopenic. MEP (OR 0.98 [95%CI 0.97, 1.00], p = 0.023) and HGS (OR 0.82 [95% CI 0.75, 0.90], p < 0.001) were independent factors for sarcopenia in older. The optimal cut-off points for identifying sarcopenia were ≤ 77 cmH₂O for MEP (AUC = 0.72), and ≤ 20 kg for HGS (AUC = 0.80). Simple muscular strength tests, including HGS and MEP, may be considered in the identification of sarcopenia in older, community-dwelling, Brazilian women. Future work is still needed to assess external validation of the proposed cut-offs before the clinical application.

Inflammaging is a chronic, sterile, low-grade inflammation that develops with advanced age in the absence of overt infection and may contribute to the pathophysiology of sarcopenia, a progressive and generalized skeletal muscle disorder. Furthermore, a series of biomarkers linked to sarcopenia occurrence have emerged. To aid diagnostic and treatment strategies for low muscle mass in sarcopenia and other related conditions, the objective of this work was to investigate potential biomarkers associated with appendicular lean mass in community-dwelling older women. This is a cross-sectional study with 71 older women (75 ± 7 years). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to assess body composition. Plasmatic blood levels of adipokines (i.e., adiponectin, leptin, and resistin), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and soluble receptors (sTNFr1 and sTNFr2), interferon (INF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and interleukins (IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Older women with low muscle mass showed higher plasma levels of adiponectin, sTNFr1, and IL-8 compared to the regular muscle mass group. In addition, higher adiponectin plasma levels explained 14% of the lower appendicular lean mass. High adiponectin plasmatic blood levels can contribute to lower appendicular lean mass in older, community-dwelling women.

Long-term neurofunctional outcomes after pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection remain incompletely understood, particularly in relation to acute antiviral immune responses. This exploratory observational pilot study assessed neurofunctional performance approximately six months after infection and its association with acute nasopharyngeal interferon-related gene expression. Sixteen children aged 3–10 years with RT-qPCR-confirmed mild COVID-19 underwent cognitive, gross motor, and functional exercise assessments. Transcript abundance of IFNA2, IFNB1, IFNL2/3, IFI6, and OAS2 was evaluated by qPCR. Five children (31.25%) scored below the age-specific MMSE cutoff, and five of 14 children (35.71%) had below-average TGMD-2 performance. Thirteen completed the ISWT, achieving 53.95 ± 13.55% of the individually predicted distance. IFNB1, IFI6, and OAS2 were detected in all acute-phase samples, whereas IFNA2 and IFNL2/3 were not detected. No statistically significant associations were identified between the detected transcripts and subsequent neurofunctional outcomes. Although the small sample size, absence of pre-infection assessments, and lack of an uninfected comparison group limit interpretation of the findings, this pilot study provides preliminary descriptive data integrating acute mucosal interferon-related gene expression with subsequent neurofunctional assessments in children, supporting further investigation in larger, controlled cohorts.