Association between myostatin and sarcopenia in end-stage liver disease

Patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD) are often accompanied by various complications such as sarcopenia and cachexia including lipopenia, and it was believed in the past that such status was associated with malnutrition, while recent studies have shown that myostatin (MSTN) is associated with the progression of ESLD. MSTN can lead to sarcopenia and cachexia by affecting the metabolism of glucose, fat, and protein and the number of myocytes, and it can be used as a screening indicator for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and an indicator for disease progression. Intervention via the MSTN pathway might be an effective method for controlling sarcopenia and cachexia in patients with ESLD, and MSTN may be an effective indicator for predicting the progression of liver cirrhosis to HCC.