PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 102 patients ages 50 to 70 years who were admitted to University of Health Sciences, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department between April 2016 and September 2016, were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria (8) and 33 healthy volunteers (mean age 54,6 years; range, 52 to 69 years) were enrolled in this study.A total of 135 subjects were evaluated by the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) diagnostic criteria (4) for the diagnosis of sarcopenia. The first group consists of knee OA patients with sarcopenia, the second group consist of OA patients without sarcopenia and the third group is the control group, which is not being exposed to be sarcopenia or knee OA. In addition, the patients who have had knee replacement surgery on the affected limb or for whom outcomes will be measured after knee replacement surgery or who have a concomitant joint disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout will be excluded because these conditions or procedures will confound the assessment of the outcomes of the interventions and those with a history of malignant disease, hyperthyroidism/ hypothyroidism, chronic inflammatory disease, diabetes mellitus, and uncontrollable heart and kidney diseases and pregnant women were excluded. The detailed musculoskeletal system examination of the patients included in this study was carried out by a single physician, and whole blood count, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and routine biochemistry tests were performed using the venous blood samples taken from the study group. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Health Sciences, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, (16/03/2016/633). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.