Study on the correlation between frailty and telomere length in the elderly
10.3760/cma.j.issn.0254-9026.2025.10.008
- VernacularTitle:老年人衰弱与端粒长度的相关性研究
- Author:
Mingxing XIONG
1
;
Wei YUE
;
Fanggang REN
;
Linzhong ZHANG
;
Ying GAO
Author Information
1. 山西医科大学麻醉学院，太原 030000
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Frailty;
Telomere length
- From:
Chinese Journal of Geriatrics
2025;44(10):1371-1375
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the correlation between frailty and telomere length in the elderly.Methods:Cross-sectional study.A total of 128 elderly patients aged ≥65 years who were hospitalized in the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from January to June 2024 were selected.Frailty assessment was conducted using the Edmonton Scale, and patients were divided into the non-frail group(n=64)and the frail group(n=64)based on frailty score.The telomere length of peripheral blood leukocyte was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR), and the correlation analysis between frailty and telomere length was conducted.Results:Compared with the non-frailty group, the frailty group had older age, higher body mass index(BMI), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA)grade, an increased proportion of diabetes and hypertension, and shorter telomere length( P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis: ageing, increased BMI, hypertension and diabetes were risk factors for frailty in the elderly( OR=1.280, 1.135, 1.543, 1.081, P=0.001, 0.036, 0.010, 0.021), while ASA grade and telomere length were not related to the occurrence of frailty.After stratification, frailty scores were weakly correlated with telomere length in the age ≤73 years old ( r=-0.344, P=0.005)and the BMI ≥24 kg/m 2( r=-0.336, P=0.001). The correlation between frailty scores and telomere length was strengthened in the poorly controlled hypertension group( r=-0.571, P=0.042)and the group with poorly controlled diabetes( r=-0.613, P=0.045)showed a stronger correlation between frailty scores and telomere length. Conclusions:In the overall analysis, there was no definitive association between telomere length and frailty.After stratification, it was found that telomere length was weakly to moderately correlated with frailty, suggesting that telomere length may interact with other factors, and strong risk factors such as age, BMI, hypertension and diabetes may mask the weak effect of telomere length on frailty.
