Establishment of a method for searching for frailty-related genes and genetic risk assessment using a very old cohort

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K07792
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 52010:General internal medicine-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: TAKASHI SASAKI 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 講師 (70306843)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 新井 康通 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 講師 (20255467)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: フレイル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we classified participants in the baseline survey of the Kawasaki aging and wellbeing project (KAWP), a group of independent very old people aged 85-89 years, according to the frailty criteria to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of frailty. We then analyzed for 1) frailty index associated gene using GWAS, 2) frailty index associated factors, and 3) correlation with outcomes including all-cause mortality and remaining days of healthspan in the 4.5-year follow-up survey of the KAWP. The results showed that 1) no significant signal could be detected frailty index associated genes by GWAS, 2) medical histories and biomarkers were identified as frailty index associated factors, and 3) frailty status at age 85-89 years was significantly correlated with all-cause mortality or remaining days of healthspan, even after adjusting for physical and cognitive functions.

Free Research Field

老年医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究ではフレイル関連遺伝子を同定することはできなかったが、フレイル状態はベースライン時点での関節性疾患、糖尿病、ガンの病歴と、利尿剤、β遮断薬の投薬歴と血中Hb値と相関することから、これらの特定疾患への罹患がフレイル状態へのリスク因子であることを明らかにした。また、病歴・投薬歴は医療レセプト情報からも抽出可能であることから、医療レセプトを用いたフレイル危険群の抽出への可能性を示すことができた。また、フレイル状態自体が身体機能、認知機能と独立して死亡及び健康寿命に相関することから、フレイル状態自体への介入の有効性を示すことができた。