Fougère Bertrand, Vellas Bruno, van Kan Gabor Abellan, Cesari Matteo
Gérontopôle, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Inserm UMR1027, Université de Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
Transl Neurosci. 2015 Mar 17;6(1):103-110. doi: 10.1515/tnsci-2015-0009. eCollection 2015.
Population aging is rapidly accelerating worldwide; however, longer life expectancy is not the only public health goal. Indeed, extended lifetime involves maintaining function and the capacity of living independently. Sarcopenia and physical frailty are both highly relevant entities with regards to functionality and autonomy of older adults. The concepts and definitions of frailty and sarcopenia have largely been revised over the years. Sarcopenia is an age-related progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength. On the other hand, frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to stressors, responsible for exposing the older person to enhanced risk of adverse outcomes. Physical frailty and sarcopenia substantially overlap and several adverse outcomes of frailty are likely mediated by sarcopenia. Indeed, the concepts of sarcopenia and physical frailty can be perceived as related to the same target organ (i.e., skeletal muscle) and it may be possible to combine them into a unique definition. The biological background of such a close relationship needs to be explored and clarified as it can potentially provide novel and pivotal insights for the assessment and treatment of these conditions in old age. The aim of this paper is to indicate and discuss possible biological markers to be considered in the framing of physical frailty and sarcopenia.
全球人口老龄化正在迅速加速；然而，预期寿命延长并非唯一的公共卫生目标。事实上，延长寿命涉及维持功能和独立生活的能力。肌肉减少症和身体虚弱都是与老年人功能和自主性高度相关的状况。多年来，虚弱和肌肉减少症的概念及定义已大幅修订。肌肉减少症是一种与年龄相关的、渐进性的、全身性的骨骼肌质量和力量丧失。另一方面，虚弱是一种对应激源易感性增加的状态，会使老年人面临更高的不良后果风险。身体虚弱和肌肉减少症有很大程度的重叠，虚弱的一些不良后果可能由肌肉减少症介导。实际上，肌肉减少症和身体虚弱的概念可被视为与同一靶器官（即骨骼肌）相关，有可能将它们合并为一个独特的定义。这种密切关系的生物学背景需要探索和阐明，因为它可能为老年期这些状况的评估和治疗提供新的关键见解。本文的目的是指出并讨论在身体虚弱和肌肉减少症的界定中可能要考虑的生物学标志物。
