Role of apelin as a biomarker in functional recovery and post-stroke-associated sarcopenia: insights from rehabilitation therapy

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Apelin in this observational study publication.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of rehabilitation on apelin expression, clinical outcomes, and psychosocial well-being in stroke survivors.

Why It Was Studied

Skeletal muscles play critical roles in mobility, respiratory function, and metabolic regulation by releasing myokines.

Age-related sarcopenia, characterized by the loss of muscle mass and function, exacerbates health outcomes, including disability and mortality.

Who Took Part

The study group was 23 patients.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

This single-center observational study enrolled 23 patients with stroke who underwent rehabilitation.

How the Study Was Run

Outcome measures included apelin concentration using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, cytokine profiling, skeletal muscle index (SMI), phase angle, grip strength, balance, functional scores (Modified Barthel Index, Berg Balance Scale), and psychosocial measures (SF-12, Fatigue Severity Scale).

What Was Measured

Age-related sarcopenia, characterized by the loss of muscle mass and function, exacerbates health outcomes, including disability and mortality.

The subject headings attached to it are Apelin, Sarcopenia, Stroke Rehabilitation, Biomarkers, Stroke, Recovery of Function and Muscle, Skeletal.

The authors tagged it with the keywords Functional recovery and Muscle mass.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is an observational study of Apelin in 23 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 5 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2026 (PeerJ), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Apelin compound page, all human trials.