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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Aging
Sec. Musculoskeletal Aging
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fragi.2024.1365716

Unveiling Frailty: Comprehensive and Sex-Specific Characterization in Prematurely Aging PolgA Mice

Provisionally accepted
Dilara Yilmaz Dilara Yilmaz 1Amit Singh Amit Singh 1Esther Wehrle Esther Wehrle 2Gisela Kuhn Gisela Kuhn 1Neashan Mathavan Neashan Mathavan 1Ralph Müller Ralph Müller 3*
  • 1 Institute for Biomechanics, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2 AO Research Institute, Davos, Switzerland
  • 3 Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Institute for Biomechanics, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Frailty, a geriatric syndrome, is assessed using the frailty phenotype (FP) and frailty index (FI). While these approaches have been applied to aging mice, their effectiveness in prematurely aging mouse models such as PolgAD257A/D257A (PolgA) has not been completely explored. We demonstrated that frailty became evident in PolgA mice around 40 weeks, validated through body weight loss, reduced walking speed, decreased physical activity, and weaker grip strength. Moreover, we also identified sex differences in these mice with females exhibiting slightly more physical decline compared to males. Frailty prevalence in PolgA mice at 40 weeks parallels that observed in naturally aging mice at 27 months and aging humans at 65-70 years. These findings contribute to understanding frailty onset and sex-specific patterns in this prematurely aging mouse model, emphasizing the significance of the PolgA mouse model in investigating aging and related disorders.

    Keywords: Aging, Frailty, Age and sex characteristics, Frailty Phenotype, PolgA mice

    Received: 04 Jan 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yilmaz, Singh, Wehrle, Kuhn, Mathavan and Müller. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ralph Müller, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, Institute for Biomechanics, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zürich, 8093, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.