Serum SIRT6 Levels Are Associated with Frailty in Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

Frailty is one of the major health problems facing aging societies worldwide. We investigated the association between serum SIRT6 and frailty in older adults.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional analysis of associations of serum SIRT6 and frailty in older people.

SETTING

Enrolled community-dwelling and hospital outpatient clinic adults older than 65 years old in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 540 community-dwelling older adults (age ≥ 65 years) in Wuhan were included in the study.

MEASURES

We used Frailty Phenotype criteria for classifying participants based on their frailty status. Serum SIRT6 was measured using an ELISA kit.

RESULTS

A total of 540 older adults were included in this cross-sectional study. Serum SIRT6 was lower in the slowness group (7.23±1.81 vs 5.89±1.74, p<0.001), weakness group (6.87±1.88 vs 5.68±1.64, p<0.001), and exhaustion group (6.73±1.90 vs 5.88±1.74, p<0.001) compare with the normal group. ROC curves were used to assess the efficiency of SIRT6 in predicting frailty in older adults. The AUC for SIRT6 was 0.792 (95% CI: 0.7514 to 0.8325), with the highest sensitivity of 68.0% and the specificity of 91.9%, and the optimal critical value of 4.65ng/ml according to Youden's index. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that serum SIRT6 level was independently associated with frailty in older people.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, serum SIRT6 was decreased in frailty compared with robust older adults. A decreased serum SIRT6 was independently associated with an increased risk of frailty. SIRT6 may be a potential target for the treatment of patients with frailty.

Resistance Exercise Program in Cognitively Normal Older Adults: CERT-Based Exercise Protocol of the AGUEDA Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES

To provide a comprehensive CERT (Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template)-based description of the resistance exercise program implemented in the AGUEDA (Active Gains in brain Using Exercise During Aging) study, a randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of a 24-week supervised resistance exercise program on executive function and related brain structure and function in cognitively normal older adults.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

90 cognitively normal older adults aged 65 to 80 were randomized (1:1) to a: 1) resistance exercise group; or a 2) wait-list control group. Participants in the exercise group (n = 46) performed 180 min/week of resistance exercise (3 supervised sessions per week, 60 min/session) for 24 weeks.

INTERVENTION

The exercise program consisted of a combination of upper and lower limb exercises using elastic bands and the participant's own body weight as the main resistance. The load and intensity were based on the resistance of the elastic bands (7 resistances), number of repetitions (individualized), motor complexity of exercises (3 levels), sets and rest (3 sets/60 sec rest), execution time (40-60 sec) and velocity (as fast as possible).

SETTINGS

The maximum prescribed-target intensity was 70-80% of the participants' maximum rate of perceived exertion (7-8 RPE). Heart rate, sleep quality and feeling scale were recorded during all exercise sessions. Those in the wait-list control group (n = 44) were asked to maintain their usual lifestyle. The feasibility of AGUEDA project was evaluated by retention, adherence, adverse events and cost estimation on the exercise program.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

This study details the exercise program of the AGUEDA trial, including well-described multi-language manuals and videos, which can be used by public health professionals, or general public who wish to implement a feasible and low-cost resistance exercise program. The AGUEDA exercise program seems to be feasible by the high retention (95.6%) and attendance rate (85.7%), very low serious adverse event (1%) and low economic cost (144.23 € /participant/24 weeks). We predict that a 24-week resistance exercise program will have positive effects on brain health in cognitively normal older adults.