A New Frailty Score for Experimental Animals Based on the Clinical Phenotype: Inactivity as a Model of Frailty.

The development of animal models to study human frailty is important to test interventions to be translated to the clinical practice. The aim of this work was to develop a score for frailty in experimental animals based in the human frailty phenotype. We also tested the effect of physical inactivity in the development of frailty as determined by our score. Male C57Bl/6J mice, individually caged, were randomly assigned to one of two groups: sedentary (inactive) or spontaneous wheel-runners. We compared the sedentary versus the active lifestyle in terms of frailty by evaluating the clinical criteria used in humans: unintentional weight loss; poor endurance (running time); slowness (running sp…

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor as a Marker of Cognitive Frailty.

Endocrinology of Aging From a Muscle Function Point of View: Results From the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging.

Aging is a process that involves a reduction in muscle strength and anabolic hormone concentrations, which impacts significantly on health.To study the hormone/total strength (H/TS) ratio as a proxy of anabolic insensitivity status in elders, and its relationship with disability, hospitalization, and mortality risk.A total of 1462 persons aged ≥65 years from the Toledo Study of Healthy Aging participated in this study. Serum concentrations of insulin like growth factor 1, total and free testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, and 17β-estradiol were measured. Total maximal voluntary isometric strength was obtained (handgrip, shoulder, hip, and knee) using standa…

Life-long spontaneous exercise does not prolong lifespan but improves health span in mice

Abstract Background Life expectancy at birth in the first world has increased from 35 years at the beginning of the 20th century to more than 80 years now. The increase in life expectancy has resulted in an increase in age-related diseases and larger numbers of frail and dependent people. The aim of our study was to determine whether life-long spontaneous aerobic exercise affects lifespan and healthspan in mice. Results Male C57Bl/6J mice, individually caged, were randomly assigned to one of two groups: sedentary (n = 72) or spontaneous wheel-runners (n = 72). We evaluated longevity and several health parameters including grip strength, motor coordination, exercise capacity (VO2max) and ske…

Oxidative stress is related to frailty, not to age or sex, in a geriatric population: lipid and protein oxidation as biomarkers of frailty.

Objectives: To ascertain whether indicators of oxidative damage to lipids (malondialdehyde (MDA)) and proteins (protein carbonylation) are biomarkers of frailty, after adjusting for age, sex, and other possible confounders. Design: Cross-sectional cohort study. Setting: Community. Participants: Toledo Study for Healthy Aging participants (N = 742, aged 65–95), classified as frail (n = 54), prefrail (n = 278) and nonfrail (n = 410) according to the Fried criteria. Measurements: Blood plasma was obtained using centrifugation (1,500 G, 15 minutes) and immediately frozen at −80°C. Plasma lipid peroxidation was determined by measuring the MDA formed from lipoperoxides using high-performance liqu…