Towards a toolkit for the assessment and monitoring of musculoskeletal ageing.

Graham J Kemp ,Eugène Mccloskey ,Malcolm J Jackson ,John C Mathers

doi:10.1093/ageing/afy078

Graham J Kemp , Eugène Mccloskey + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afy078

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Abstract

The complexities and heterogeneity of the ageing process have slowed the development of consensus on appropriate biomarkers of healthy ageing. The MRC-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) is a collaboration between researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. One of CIMA’s objectives is to ‘Identify and share optimal techniques and approaches to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal tissues, and to provide an integrated assessment of musculoskeletal function’, i.e. to develop a toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing. This toolkit is envisaged as an instrument that can be used to characterise and quantify musculoskeletal function during ‘normal’ ageing, lend itself to use in large-scale, internationally important cohorts, and provide a set of biomarker outcome measures for epidemiological and intervention studies designed to enhance healthy musculoskeletal ageing. Such potential biomarkers include: biochemical measurements in biofluids or tissue samples, in vivo measurements of body composition, imaging of structural and physical properties, and functional tests. The CIMA Toolkit Working Group assessed candidate biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing under these four headings, detailed their biological bases, strengths and limitations, and made practical recommendations for their use. In addition, the CIMA Toolkit Working Group identified gaps in the evidence base and suggested priorities for further research on biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing.

Highlights

One of Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA)’s objectives is to ‘identify and share optimal techniques and approaches to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal tissues, and to provide an integrated assessment of musculoskeletal function’, i.e. to develop a toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing
The need has been identified [3], to date there appears to have been no attempt to develop a specific set of biomarkers of ageing of the musculoskeletal system. This Commentary provides an executive summary of a proposed toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing which is published in full as a supplement to Age and Ageing [4]. This toolkit was developed by The Medical Research Council (MRC)-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA)1 which is a collaboration between researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle
Five further markers of bone turnover viz. osteocalcin; bone alkaline phosphatase; N-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of collagen type I (NTX); carboxy-terminal cross-linked telopeptide of type I collagen generated by matrix metalloproteinases (ICTP); and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase isoform 5b (TRACP5b) are potential future candidates

Summary

Introduction

One of CIMA’s objectives is to ‘identify and share optimal techniques and approaches to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal tissues, and to provide an integrated assessment of musculoskeletal function’, i.e. to develop a toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing. The complexities and heterogeneity of the ageing process have slowed the development of consensus on appropriate biomarkers of healthy ageing. This toolkit is envisaged as an instrument that can be used to characterise and quantify musculoskeletal function during ‘normal’ ageing, lend itself to use in large-scale, internationally important cohorts, and provide a set of biomarker outcome measures for epidemiological and intervention studies designed to enhance healthy musculoskeletal ageing.

Results

Conclusion