title: Inflammation and frailty in older women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate relationships between white blood cell (WBC) count and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and prevalent frailty.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two population-based studies, the Women's Health and Aging Studies (WHAS) I and II, Baltimore, Maryland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred fifty-eight women aged 65 to 101 from WHAS I and 548 women aged 70 to 79 from the merged WHAS I and II cohorts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frailty was determined using validated screening criteria. WBC counts and IL-6 levels were measured using standard laboratory methods. Odds ratios (ORs) for frailty were evaluated across tertiles of baseline WBC counts and IL-6 levels, adjusting for age, race, education, body mass index, and smoking status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In WHAS I, those in the top tertile of WBC count and IL-6 had ORs of 4.25 (95% confidence interval (CI)=1.89-9.58) and 3.98 (95% CI=1.76-9.00), respectively, for frailty (both P<.001). In the combined models, participants in the top tertile of WBC count had an OR of 3.15 (95% CI=1.34-7.41), adjusting for IL-6 (P<.01), and those in the top tertile of IL-6 had an OR of 2.81 (95% CI=1.19-6.64), adjusting for WBC count (P<.05). Furthermore, participants in the top tertiles of WBC count and IL-6 had an OR of 9.85 (95% CI=3.04-31.99), and those in the middle/top tertiles had an OR of 5.40 (95% CI=1.83-15.92) (P<.001, trend test) for frailty. These results were validated in the merged WHAS I and II.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher WBC counts and IL-6 levels were independently associated with prevalent frailty in community-dwelling older women.
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. sleng@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Sean X
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.forename: Qian-Li
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Walston
authors.forename: Linda P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Fried
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6