Abstract
Many age-related biochemical, physiological and behavioral changes are known to be sex-specific. However, how sex influences frailty status and mortality risk in frail rodents has yet to be established. The purpose of this study was therefore to characterize sex differences in frail mice across the lifespan. Male (n=29) and female (n=27) mice starting at 17 months of age were assessed using a frailty phenotype adjusted according to sex, which included body weight, walking speed, strength, endurance and physical activity. Regardless of sex, frail mice were phenotypically dysfunctional compared to age-matched non-frail mice, while non-frail females generally possessed a higher body fat percentage and were more physically active than non-frail males (p≤0.05). The prevalence of frailty was greater in female mice at 26 months of age (p=0.05), but if normalized to mean lifespan, no sex differences remained. No differences were detected in the rate of death or mean lifespan between frail male and female mice (p≥0.12). In closing, these data indicate that sexual differences exist in aging C57BL/6 mice and if the frailty criteria are adjusted according to sex, the prevalence of frailty increases across age with frail mice dying early in life, regardless of sex.
Highlights
Aging is characterized by a gradual decline in various health parameters across multiple biochemical, physiological and behavioral systems [1]
The purposes of this study were to characterize sex differences in frail C57BL/6 mice across the lifespan using a validated frailty phenotype, and assess how closely it relates to the human sex-frailty paradox
The purposes of this study were to characterize sex differences of frail mice across the lifespan using a validated frailty phenotype, and assess how closely it relates to the human sex-frailty paradox
Summary
Aging is characterized by a gradual decline in various health parameters across multiple biochemical, physiological and behavioral systems [1]. With dysfunction of these systems, quality of life is impaired (i.e., reduced healthspan), which leads to death. A subset of aging individuals appears to lack resilience within these systems, a condition termed frailty. Frailty has broadly been defined as an age-associated biological syndrome characterized by an exaggerated vulnerability to adverse global health outcomes, a reduced capacity to react to stressors and an overall loss in physiological function [2, 3]. Studying frailty has become a pivotal area of research
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