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.
Keywords
Biomarkers, Cardiovascular disease, Frailty, Public health, Screening
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