Identifying the Biomarker Profile of Pre-Frail and Frail People: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from UK Biobank

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare the biomarker profile of pre-frail and frail adults in the UK Biobank cohort by sex. Methods: In total, 202,537 participants (67.8% women, aged 37 to 73 years) were included in this cross-sectional analysis. Further, 31 biomarkers were investigated in this study. Frailty was defined using a modified version of the Frailty Phenotype. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to explore the biomarker profile of pre-frail and frail individuals categorized by sex. Results: Lower concentrations of apoA1, total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol, albumin, eGFRcys, vitamin D, total bilirubin, apoB, and testosterone (differences ranged from −0.30 to −0.02 per 1-SD change), as well as higher concentrations of triglycerides, GGT, cystatin C, CRP, ALP, and phosphate (differences ranged from 0.01 to 0.53 per 1-SD change), were identified both in pre-frail and frail men and women. However, some of the associations differed by sex. For instance, higher rheumatoid factor and urate concentrations were identified in pre-frail and frail women, while lower calcium, total protein, and IGF-1 concentrations were identified in pre-frail women and frail women and men. When the analyses were further adjusted for CRP, similar results were found. Conclusions: Several biomarkers were linked to pre-frailty and frailty. Nonetheless, some of the associations differed by sex. Our findings contribute to a broader understanding of the pathophysiology of frailty as currently defined.

Explainable machine learning framework for biomarker discovery by combining biological age and frailty prediction (Preprint)

“…Considering all these biomarkers collectively, the ML approach shows promise in enhancing the capability to detect frailty with improved sensitivity and specificity, especially since frailty involves multiple biological systems. The feature importance of the BA and frailty predictors revealed that cystatin C, glycated hemoglobin, creatinine, hemoglobin and Creative protein are among the most important features, which is consistent with many previous findings [6,8,9,18,28,61].…”

Hypogonadism, frailty, and postoperative outcomes among men undergoing radical nephrectomy

“…Using this frailty index, our results are consistent with prior literature using other frailty indices. In large, cross‐sectional studies, low testosterone has proven to be an independent predictor of frailty 17 . This finding has been replicated in populations of patients with chronic liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and end‐stage renal failure.…”

“…low testosterone has proven to be an independent predictor of frailty. 17 This finding has been replicated in populations of patients with chronic liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and end-stage renal failure. However, limited data exists regarding the relationship of low testosterone and frailty among surgical patients.…”

Gut microbiome and frailty: insight from genetic correlation and mendelian randomization

“…A recent intervention experiment in mice also found that supplementation with a mixture of Opuntia ficus-indica, Theobroma cacao, and Acheta domesticus increased the abundance of Eubacterium coprostanoligenes in obese mice, thereby reducing serum cholesterol levels 49 . Meanwhile, a large-scale study based on the UK Biobank found that lower levels of total, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were associated with a higher prevalence of frailty 50 . It can be deduced from this that the higher the abundance of Eubacterium coprostanoligenes , the lower cholesterol level may be, which may increase the risk of frailty.…”