title: Frailty in mouse ageing: A conceptual approach.
abstract: Human life expectancy has increased dramatically in the last century and as a result also the prevalence of a variety of age-related diseases and syndromes. One such syndrome is frailty, which is defined as a combination of organ dysfunctions leading to increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. In humans, frailty is associated with various biomarkers of ageing and predicts relevant outcomes such as responses to therapies and progression of health status and mortality. Moreover, it is relatively easy to assess. To foster translation of mechanistic understanding of the ageing process and, importantly, of interventions that may extend healthy lifespan, frailty scales have been reverse translated into mice in recent years. We will review these approaches with a view to identify what is known and what is not known at present about their validity, reproducibility and reliability with a focus on the potential for further improvement.
authors.affiliation: Newcastle University Institute for Ageing, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: von Zglinicki
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Research Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) and Centro de investigación biomédica en red enfermedades raras (CIBERER)-IdiPAZ Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Varela Nieto
authors.affiliation: Group of Neuron Glia Biology in Health and Disease at the Research Institute of Medicines and Department of Biochemistry and Human Biology, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brites
authors.affiliation: Biomedcode Hellas S.A., Vari, Greece.
authors.forename: Niki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karagianni
authors.affiliation: Group of Neonatal Pathology, Pediatrics and Rare Diseases, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Ourense-Pontevedra-Vigo, University Hospital of Vigo, Vigo, Spain.
authors.forename: Saida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ortolano
authors.affiliation: Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, Centre of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Spiros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Georgopoulos
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Luisa
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Department Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Avda. Blasco Ibáñez 15, E-46010 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Novella
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Stem Cell Aging and Healthy Longevity, University Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstr 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lepperdinger
authors.affiliation: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Musculoskeletal Disease Area, Muscle group, Cambridge, MA02139, USA.
authors.forename: Anne-Ulrike
authors.initials: AU
authors.lastname: Trendelenburg
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ageing Biology and Stem Cells, Central Animal Facility, European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.p.van.os@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van Os
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000073496:Frailty / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice