Frailty is a geriatric syndrome characterized by decreasing functional reserves and increasing vulnerability to falls, injuries and declining health, leading to dependence upon caregivers. Frailty is associated not only with physical decline, but also with cognitive and psychological impairments in aging people. Higher serum adiponectin concentration has been linked to better performance on frailty measures but also to worse cognitive status. Nonetheless, several studies have proposed adiponectin as a frailty biomarker. To further delineate the relationship between adiponectin serum levels and frailty-related parameters, we studied a population of 112 long-term nursing home residents (aged 84.9 ± 6.7) and analyzed their serum adiponectin levels in conjunction with frailty-related parameters including body composition, physical fitness, cognitive function, psychological parameters and quality of life. Frailty was assessed following the Fried Frailty Criteria, the Clinical Frailty Scale and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator. In women, higher serum adiponectin levels were associated with lower body weight, body mass index, body fat mass, fat mass/height2, lean mass, lean mass/height2 and smaller waist circumference and hip circumference (p < 0.05). In men, the association was positive (p < 0.05) between serum adiponectin and percentage of fat mass and negative between serum adiponectin and percentage of lean mass. Interestingly, in men, better cognitive function was inversely related to adiponectin (p < 0.05) while decreased anxiety was linked to a higher concentration of adiponectin in women (p < 0.05). According to the Tilburg Frailty Indicator, frail men had lower levels of adiponectin than those who were not frail (p < 0.05). Variables that predicted adiponectin concentration in multiple regression models were different for women and men. In women, lean mass and anxiety were independent negative predictors of blood adiponectin (β = -0.363, p = 0.002; β = -0.204, p = 0.067, respectively). In men, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) test was the only parameter to remain significant in the regression model (β = -439, p = 0.015). The results of our study show that adiponectin is linked to body composition, cognitive function and anxiety in long-term nursing home residents with differential relationships by sex. Further studies should be conducted to determine whether adiponectin is a valid and reliable frailty biomarker.
Keywords: Adiponectin; Aging; Anxiety; Biomarker; Cognition; Frailty; Nursing home; Physical fitness.
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