Elevated C-BAs may represent a critical, liver-derived humoral factor associated with the pathological features of liver-related sarcopenia. C-BA-associated muscle mass loss and systemic inflammation are reflected at the molecular level by a shift toward a slow-twitch phenotype, accumulation of macrophages and altered energy metabolism in muscle biopsies. These findings suggest that C-BAs may serve as a potentially actionable therapeutic target for mitigating muscle catabolism and improving clinical outcomes in CLD patients.
Iwasa et al. (2026) studied this question.