Pathogenic load and frailty in older adults: Singapore longitudinal ageing study.

ABSTRACT: Human evidence for the role of continuous antigenic stimulation from persistent latent infections in frailty is limited. We conducted a nested case-control study (99 deceased and 43 survivors) of participants aged 55 and above in a longitudinal ageing cohort followed up from 2003 to 2017. Using blood samples and baseline data collected in 2003-2004, we examined the association of pathogenic load (PL) count of seropositivity to 10 microbes (viruses, bacteria and mycoplasma) with cumulated deficit-frailty index (CD-FI) and the physical frailty (PF) phenotype, and mortality. Controlling for age, sex, education, smoking and alcohol histories, high PL (7-9) versus low PL (3-6) was associated with an estimated increase of 0.035 points in the CD-FI (Cohen's D=0.035 / 0.086, or 0.41). High PL was

SUBMITTER: Ng TP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7695406 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature