Yasin YILDIZ, Nurdan ŞENTÜRK DURMUŞ, Aylin YILMAZ, Erhan ÜNER, Esra Dicle KAYA, Zeynep Beşışık YILMAZ, Çiğdem ALKAÇ, Büşra CAN, Aslı TUFAN
European Journal of Geriatrics and Gerontology - 2026;8(2):56-65
Objective: Sarcopenia is an age-related muscle disorder marked by loss of muscle mass, strength, and function. Post-menopausal women face an increased risk due to alterations in hormones and metabolism. In addition, systemic inflammation has been proposed as a key contributor in this population. Although standard inflammatory markers, such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, are not readily available, the percentage of immature granulocytes (IGr%), easily obtained from routine blood tests, may serve as an indicator of inflammation. To investigate the association between IGr% and sarcopenia in post-menopausal women and identify related clinical and laboratory factors. Materials and Methods: This study was designed as a retrospective observational analysis. The study included post-menopausal women who attended the Geriatrics and General Internal Medicine outpatient clinics between May and August 2024. Assessment of sarcopenia included the strength, assistance with walking, rising from a chair, climbing stairs, and falls questionnaire, handgrip strength, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and a 4-meter gait speed test. Basic activities of daily living (ADL) were measured with the Katz ADL scale, instrumental activities were assessed with the Lawton IADL scale, and nutritional risk was assessed with the nutritional risk screening (NRS-2002). Laboratory parameters included IGr%, C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, and white blood cell count (WBC). Results: Among 198 participants (mean age: 59 years), 43.9% had probable or confirmed sarcopenia. Sarcopenic women were older (p < 0.001), had lower lumbar bone density (p = 0.024), had more comorbidities (p = 0.001), and had greater functional dependency (p = 0.001). Sarcopenic individuals showed a significantly higher IGr% in univariate analysis (p = 0.046), while no significant differences were observed among other inflammatory markers, such as CRP , WBC, neutrophils (NEUTs), lymphocytes (LYMPH), the NEUT-to-LYMPH ratio and the platelet-to-LYMPH ratio (all p > 0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that older age [odds ratio (OR): 1.058, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.022-1.096; p = 0.002] and albumin (OR: 0.891, 95% CI: 0.773-0.981; p = 0.023) were independent predictors of sarcopenia. Conclusion: Although IGr% was higher in sarcopenic individuals in univariate analysis, it did not remain an independent predictor after adjustment. However, as a readily available, cost-effective parameter from the routine complete blood count, IGr% may serve as an early biomarker reflecting low-grade systemic inflammation in sarcopenia, a finding that warrants confirmation in larger, prospective, multicenter studies.
