Valentini Alessia, Cianfarani Maria Assunta, Tarantino Umberto, Di Daniele Nicola, Bertoli Aldo
Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", 00133 Rome, Italy.
Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University of Rome "Tor Vergata", 00133 Rome, Italy.
Aging (Albany NY). 2019 Jul 17;11(14):4900-4909. doi: 10.18632/aging.102083.
The lack of a univocal definition of frailty, a condition frequently found in the elderly population which is correlated with an increased risk of mortality, has prompted the search for clinical and laboratory parameters associated with this condition. Whereas OPG is a protein involved in different pathophysiological conditions including bone, vascular, immune and tumor disease and studies found a positive linear correlation between OPG and age we hypothesized that it may represent a frailty marker in the elderly.We conducted an observational study of 172 elderly subjects, with and without hip fracture, including a multidimensional geriatric evaluation and a laboratory evaluation, aimed to evaluate the association between OPG and frailty.Frailty Score was associated with FT3 and osteoprotegerin (OPG), regardless of fracture event. Excluding subjects with hip fracture, in whom the acute event had a direct effect on bone production of OPG, the Frailty Score showed a linear correlation with circulating levels of osteoprotegerin.In the elderly, an increase in osteoprotegerin levels may reflect a progressive accumulation of organ damage leading to the development of frailty. The correlation between OPG and Frailty Score found in our study points to its potential use as a biomarker for geriatric frailty syndrome.
衰弱缺乏统一的定义，这是一种在老年人群中经常出现的状况，与死亡风险增加相关，这促使人们寻找与该状况相关的临床和实验室参数。骨保护素（OPG）是一种参与包括骨骼、血管、免疫和肿瘤疾病在内的不同病理生理状况的蛋白质，并且研究发现OPG与年龄之间存在正线性相关，我们推测它可能是老年人衰弱的一个标志物。我们对172名有或无髋部骨折的老年受试者进行了一项观察性研究，包括多维老年评估和实验室评估，旨在评估OPG与衰弱之间的关联。衰弱评分与游离三碘甲状腺原氨酸（FT3）和骨保护素（OPG）相关，无论是否发生骨折事件。排除髋部骨折患者（在这些患者中急性事件对OPG的骨生成有直接影响）后，衰弱评分与骨保护素的循环水平呈线性相关。在老年人中，骨保护素水平的升高可能反映了器官损伤的逐渐积累，导致衰弱的发展。我们研究中发现的OPG与衰弱评分之间的相关性表明其有可能用作老年衰弱综合征的生物标志物。
