Background Sarcopenia is a prognostic factor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the mechanism underlying sarcopenia development in these patients remains unclear. The chemokine interferon-gamma-induced protein 10/C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (IP-10) has been found to be associated with muscle regeneration or destruction. Thus, we aimed to clarify the role of serum IP-10 levels in predicting sarcopenia development in patients with HCC. Methods This retrospective study enrolled 120 patients with primary HCC whose serum IP-10 levels were measured both at baseline and 1 year after the confirmed diagnosis of HCC. Patients who had sarcopenia at baseline computed tomography imaging were assigned to the Sarco-base group, whereas those in whom sarcopenia was found for the first time during the 3-year follow-up were assigned to the Sarco-develop group. Those who never met the criteria during the follow-up period were assigned to the Non-Sarco group. Results The baseline IP-10 levels were significantly lower in the Sarco-base group compared to the rest (88 vs. 110 pg/ml, p = 0.016). Conversely IP-10 levels and IP-10 ratio at 1 year after the confirmed diagnosis of HCC were lower in the Non-Sarco group compared to the rest (25 vs. 62 pg/ml, p < 0.001, 0.91 vs. 1.1, p = 0.044). Further comparisons between the three groups show that the baseline IP-10 levels were higher in the Sarco-develop group than in the Sarco-base (p < 0.001) and Non-Sarco (p = 0.0017) groups. Conclusions Patients with sarcopenia at baseline more frequently presented with low IP-10 levels than those without. Contrarily, the group without sarcopenia at baseline and with high baseline IP-10 levels and IP-10 ratios at 1 year were more likely to develop sarcopenia within 3 years. Monitoring of IP-10 levels may enable the identification of groups prone to develop sarcopenia in patients with HCC.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

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the Human Ethics Review Committee of Yamanashi University Hospital (approval number: 1326)

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