The onset and progression of sarcopenia are highly variable among individuals owing to genetic and environmental factors. However, there are a limited number of studies measuring the heritability of muscle strength in large numbers of parent-adult offspring pairs. We aimed to investigate the familial correlation and heritability of hand grip strength (HGS) among Korean adults.

Regular aerobic exercise is essential for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus and may be particularly beneficial for those treated with thiazolidinediones, since it may prevent associated weight gain. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of combined exercise and rosiglitazone treatment on body composition and glucose metabolism in obese diabetes-prone animals.

Most reported genome-wide association studies (GWAS) seeking to identify the loci of osteoporosis-related traits have involved Caucasian populations. We aimed to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of osteoporosis-related traits among East Asian populations from the bone mineral density (BMD)-related loci of an earlier GWAS meta-analysis.

Free fatty acid receptor 4 (FFA4) has been reported to be a receptor for n-3 fatty acids (FAs). Although n-3 FAs are beneficial for bone health, a role of FFA4 in bone metabolism has been rarely investigated. We noted that FFA4 was more abundantly expressed in both mature osteoclasts and osteoblasts than their respective precursors and that it was activated by docosahexaenoic acid. FFA4 knockout (Ffar4(-/-)) and wild-type mice exhibited similar bone masses when fed a normal diet. Because fat-1 transgenic (fat-1(Tg+)) mice endogenously converting n-6 to n-3 FAs contain high n-3 FA levels, we crossed Ffar4(-/-) and fat-1(Tg+) mice over two generations to generate four genotypes of mice littermates: Ffar4(+/+);fat-1(Tg-), Ffar4(+/+);fat-1(Tg+), Ffar4(-/-);fat-1(Tg-), and Ffar4(-/-);fat-1(Tg+). Female and male littermates were included in ovariectomy- and high-fat diet-induced bone loss models, respectively. Female fat-1(Tg+) mice decreased bone loss after ovariectomy both by promoting osteoblastic bone formation and inhibiting osteoclastic bone resorption than their wild-type littermates, only when they had the Ffar4(+/+) background, but not the Ffar4(-/-) background. In a high-fat diet-fed model, male fat-1(Tg+) mice had higher bone mass resulting from stimulated bone formation and reduced bone resorption than their wild-type littermates, only when they had the Ffar4(+/+) background, but not the Ffar4(-/-) background. In vitro studies supported the role of FFA4 as n-3 FA receptor in bone metabolism. In conclusion, FFA4 is a dual-acting factor that increases osteoblastic bone formation and decreases osteoclastic bone resorption, suggesting that it may be an ideal target for modulating metabolic bone diseases.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the causal relationship between NAFLD and CKD is uncertain, particularly in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to investigate the association between the presence and severity of NAFLD and incident CKD in patients with T2DM.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of dapagliflozin as an add-on or a switch therapy to lobeglitazone plus metformin (MFM) in Korean patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in real-world clinical practice.