Relationship between frailty and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers: A scoping review.

ABSTRACT: Frailty and dementia appear to be closely linked, although mechanisms remain unclear. The objective was to conduct a scoping review of the association between frailty and Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers in humans.Three databases, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase, were searched for articles using the following search terms: "frail elderly", "Alzheimer's disease", "dementia biomarkers" and their synonyms. Inclusion was limited to original research in humans published before 2017, which included a frailty measure and AD biomarker (fluid markers, neuroimaging, and neuropathology).Five hundred twenty-two articles were identified and screened; 10 were included. Most were cross-sectional (n = 6), measured the frailty phenotype (n = 6), and included people with dementia (n = 7). Biomarkers examined were postmortem AD pathology (n = 3), brain atrophy (n = 5), and in vivo fluid markers (n = 2). Eight studies reported that increased frailty was associated with at least one biomarker abnormality.Evidence is limited and suffers from design limitations but suggests that frailty and AD biomarkers are closely linked. Longitudinal research examining multiple biomarkers and frailty is warranted.

SUBMITTER: Wallace L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6072899 | biostudies-other | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other