ArticlePloS one2020
Serum progranulin levels are associated with frailty in middle-aged individuals.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular predictors of incident frailty: a systematic review and critical appraisal of longitudinal evidence.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Association among circulating erythropoietin-producing hepatoma A2, progranulin, and kidney function in individuals with diabetes.Journal of diabetes investigation · 2025Article
- Analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of plasma sTNFr-2 concentrations in identifying sarcopenia in community-dwelling older women.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Progranulin's Protective Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential in Cardiovascular Disease.Cells · 2025Review
- Mid-life plasma proteins associated with late-life prefrailty and frailty: a proteomic analysis.GeroScience · 2024Article
- Bibliometric and scientometric analysis on biomarkers and molecular mechanisms for physical frailty and sarcopenia.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Low circulating adropin levels in late-middle aged African Americans with poor cognitive performance.npj aging · 2023Article
- Inflammatory biomarkers at different stages of Sarcopenia in older women.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Sex-specific transcriptome differences in a middle-aged frailty cohort.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Editorial: Physical Frailty: A Biological Marker of Aging?The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveA recent study identified progranulin as a candidate biomarker for frailty, based on gene expression databases. In the present study, we investigated associations between serum progranulin levels and frailty in a population-based sample of late middle-age and older adults.
methodsWe utilized a cohort study that included 358 African Americans (baseline ages 49-65). Frailty was assessed by three established methods: the interview-based FRAIL scale, the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) frailty scale that includes performance-based measurements, and the Frailty Index (FI) that is based on cumulative deficits. Serum levels of the following proteins and metabolites were measured: progranulin, cystatin C, fructosamine, soluble cytokine receptors (interleukin-2 and -6, tumor necrosis factor α-1 and -2), and C-reactive protein. Sarcopenia was assessed using the SARC-F index. Vital status was determined by matching through the National Death Index (NDI).
resultsSerum progranulin levels were associated with frailty for all indices (FRAIL, CHS, and FI) but not with sarcopenia. Inflammatory markers indicated by soluble cytokine receptors (sIL-2R, sIL-6R, sTNFR1, sTNFR2) were positively associated serum progranulin. Increased serum progranulin levels at baseline predicted poorer outcomes including future frailty as measured by the FRAIL scale and 15-year all-cause mortality independent of age, gender, and frailty.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that serum progranulin levels may be a candidate biomarker for physical frailty, independent of sarcopenia. Further studies are needed to validate this association and assess the utility of serum progranulin levels as a potential biomarker for prevalent frailty, for risk for developing incident frailty, and for mortality risk over and above the effect of baseline frailty.
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