{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T15:45:23Z","timestamp":1792856723089,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]],"date-time":"2026-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774742400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000049","name":"National Institute on Aging","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["NO1-AG-1\u20132109"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NO1-AG-1\u20132109"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000049","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["NO1-AG-1\u20132109"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NO1-AG-1\u20132109"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/049v75w11","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Sarcopenia is the age-related, progressive loss of strength, function, and skeletal muscle mass, which can be assessed with specific tests. The Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) has been proposed as a key biomarker of aging, and it has been associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, cachexia, and physical impairment. Methods: The cohort of this study comes from the SardiNIA study, an ongoing longitudinal survey focused on the identification of genetic and phenotypic variants associated with aging. We assessed hand grip strength, gait speed, and GDF-15 in all samples. Linear multivariate analysis was used to assess the correlation after adjusting for a range of potential confounders. Results: The sample consisted of 4842 subjects (57.5% female) with a median age of 48.6 years. Levels of GDF-15 were comparable between males and females and showed a strong positive association with aging (rho 0.617, p &lt; 0.001). Linear multivariate regression analyses showed that GDF-15 was negatively associated with gait speed and grip strength in both hands (respectively, Beta \u22120.09, Beta \u22120.07, and Beta \u22120.08, p &lt; 0.001 for all). Conclusions: GDF-15 was negatively associated with physical function. GDF-15 may be considered a proxy for reduced physical performance. Future research is needed to understand the pathogenetic role of GDF-15 in the reduction in skeletal muscle in aging people.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15072612","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]],"date-time":"2026-03-30T08:22:36Z","timestamp":1774858956000},"page":"2612","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Growth Differentiation Factor 15 and Physical Function Impairment in the SardiNIA Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Nicia I.","family":"Profili","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8690-4988","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edoardo","family":"Fiorillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, 09042 Monserrato, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valeria","family":"Orr\u00f9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, 09042 Monserrato, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Benelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Cucca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, 09042 Monserrato, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandro P.","family":"Delitala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy"},{"name":"Institute for Genetic and Biomedical Research, National Research Council, 09042 Monserrato, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"300","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jamda.2019.12.012","article-title":"Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia: 2019 Consensus Update on Sarcopenia Diagnosis and Treatment","volume":"21","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. 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