Seldeen Kenneth Ladd, Troen Bruce Robert
Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo and Research Service, Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
Adv Geriatr Med Res. 2021;3(2). doi: 10.20900/agmr20210007. Epub 2021 Feb 6.
Frailty is a condition marked by greater susceptibility to adverse outcomes, including disability and mortality, which affects up to 50% of those 80 years of age and older. Concurrently, serum vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency, for which as many as 70% of older adults may be at risk, potentially play an important role in frailty onset and progression. Large population driven studies have uncovered associations between low serum vitamin D levels and higher incidence of frailty. However, attempts to apply vitamin D therapeutically to treat and/or prevent frailty have not yielded consistent support for benefits. Given the complexity and inconsistency arising from human studies involving vitamin D, our research group has recently published on animal models of vitamin D insufficiency. Combining our model with the emerging development of animal frailty assessment, we identified that higher than standard levels of vitamin D supplementation may delay frailty in mice. In this viewpoint article, we will discuss current knowledge regarding the importance of vitamin D in frailty progression, the emerging significance of animal models in addressing these relationships, and the future for pre-clinical and clinical research.
衰弱是一种以更易发生不良后果（包括残疾和死亡）为特征的状态，80岁及以上人群中高达50%受其影响。同时，血清维生素D不足和缺乏在衰弱的发生和发展中可能起重要作用，多达70%的老年人可能面临这种风险。大型人群驱动研究发现血清维生素D水平低与衰弱发生率较高之间存在关联。然而，尝试将维生素D用于治疗和/或预防衰弱并未得到一致的证据支持其益处。鉴于涉及维生素D的人体研究存在复杂性和不一致性，我们的研究小组最近发表了关于维生素D不足动物模型的研究。将我们的模型与动物衰弱评估的新进展相结合，我们发现高于标准水平的维生素D补充可能会延缓小鼠的衰弱。在这篇观点文章中，我们将讨论关于维生素D在衰弱进展中的重要性的现有知识、动物模型在解决这些关系方面的新意义以及临床前和临床研究的未来。
