title: Frailty and telomere length: cross-sectional analysis in 3537 older adults from the ESTHER cohort.
abstract: Both telomere length and frailty were observed to be associated with aging. Whether and to what extent telomere length is related to frailty is essentially unknown. In this cross-sectional analysis of baseline data of 3537 community-dwelling adults aged 50 to 75 years of a large German cohort study, we assessed the hypothesis that shorter telomere length might be a biological marker for frailty. Using whole blood DNA we examined mean telomere repeat copy to single gene copy number (T/S ratio) using quantitative PCR. Construction of a frailty index (FI) was based on a deficit accumulation approach, which quantifies frailty as ratio of the deficits present divided by the total number of deficits considered. Mean FI was determined according to age by tertiles of T/S ratio. Furthermore, we used correlation analyses stratified for gender and age groups to examine the association of the T/S ratio with frailty. Mean FI value was similar across tertiles of the T/S ratio (0.24±0.14, 0.24±0.14 and 0.23±0.14, respectively (p=0.09)), and FI and the T/S ratio were uncorrelated in gender- and age-specific analyses. In conclusion, T/S ratio and frailty were unrelated in this large sample of older adults. T/S ratio may therefore not be a meaningful biological marker for frailty.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: k.saum@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Kai-Uwe
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Saum
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: a.dieffenbach@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Aida Karina
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dieffenbach
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Network Aging Research (NAR), University of Heidelberg, Bergheimer Straße 20, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: a.mueezzinler@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Aysel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müezzinler
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: h.mueller@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Epidemiological Cancer Registry of Saarland, Präsident-Baltz-Straße 5, 66119 Saarbrücken, Germany. Electronic address: b.holleczek@gbe-ekr.saarland.de.
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Holleczek
authors.affiliation: Epidemiological Cancer Registry of Saarland, Präsident-Baltz-Straße 5, 66119 Saarbrücken, Germany. Electronic address: c.stegmaier@gbe-ekr.saarland.de.
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stegmaier
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: k.butterbach@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Butterbach
authors.affiliation: Genomics and Proteomics Core Facility, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schick
authors.affiliation: Genomic Epidemiology Group, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 580, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: f.canzian@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Canzian
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics of Skin Carcinogenesis, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: h.stammer@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stammer
authors.affiliation: Division of Genetics of Skin Carcinogenesis, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: p.boukamp@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boukamp
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Research, Bethanien-Hospital and Geriatric Centre, University of Heidelberg, Rohrbacher Str. 149, 69126 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: khauer@bethanien-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hauer
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; Network Aging Research (NAR), University of Heidelberg, Bergheimer Straße 20, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: h.brenner@dkfz.de.
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brenner
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D018628:Gene Dosage; D005819:Genetic Markers; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D059506:Telomere Shortening
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Elderly; Frailty; Frailty index; Telomere length; Telomeres