Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abadi K. Gebre: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5337-985X
Carlos J. Toro-Huamanchumo: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4664-2856
Wai E. Lim: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3410-3572
Richard L. Prince: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2298-4202
Joshua R. Lewis: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1003-8443
Marc Sim: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5166-0605
Abstract
Despite the nexus between cardiovascular health and frailty, the relevance of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI), a biomarker of myocardial injury, to frailty is poorly understood. We examined whether hs-cTnI concentrations were associated with frailty in a well-characterized cohort of older women. A total of 1151 community-dwelling women from the Perth Longitudinal Study of Aging Women (mean age ± SD = 75.2 ± 2.7 years) were included. Frailty was operationalized using a validated frailty index (FI) of cumulative deficits and a modified Fried phenotype. Plasma hs-cTnI were categorized into quartiles. Cross-sectional associations between hs-cTnI quartiles and frailty were assessed using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models. A total of 235 (20.4%) women were classified as frail using the FI, while 74 (6.4%) were considered frail by Fried's phenotype. In a multivariable-adjusted model, compared to women in the lowest hs-cTnI quartile (Q1), those in Q3 and Q4 had 1.38 (95% CI, 1.00-1.90) and 1.79 (1.20-2.67) greater odds for frailty when classified by the FI. When classified according to Fried's phenotype, women in Q2, Q3, and Q4 had 2.25 (1.10-4.09), 2.64 (1.19-5.21), and 2.44 (1.10-5.33) greater odds for frailty, compared to Q1. Associations remained largely unchanged when further adjusted for daily protein intake or systemic inflammation (lipocalin-2) and restricted to those with subclinical hs-cTnI levels (<15.6ng/L). Higher hs-cTnI levels are associated with greater odds for frailty, classified using an FI or Fried's phenotype, among older women. hs-cTnI may have applications beyond its typical use in cardiology, offering insight into the implications of underlying cardiovascular dysfunction relating to frailty.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-12-2026
Volume
81
Issue
2
PubMed ID
41138158
Publication Title
Journals of Gerontology Series A
Publisher
Oxford Academic
School
Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
84388
Funders
National Health and Medical Research Council / Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation Career Advancement Fellowship / Western Australian Future Health Research and Innovation Fund / National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship (102817) / Forrest Research Foundation Scholarship / Edith Cowan University
Grant Number
NHMRC Numbers : 254627, 303169, 572604
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Pratt, J., Gebre, A. K., Toro-Huamanchumo, C. J., Dent, E., Bozanich, T., Lim, W. E., Byrnes, E., McDonagh, J., Ferguson, C., Sale, C., Zhu, K., Schultz, C., Prince, R. L., Lewis, J. R., & Sim, M. (2025). High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I and frailty: Associations with the frailty index and fried phenotype in older women. The Journals of Gerontology Series A, 81(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaf235