Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34254997›Full record

ArticleAge and ageing2021

Associations between inflammation, cardiovascular biomarkers and incident frailty: the British Regional Heart Study.

Douglas G J McKechnie, A Olia Papacosta, Lucy T Lennon, Sheena E Ramsay, Peter H Whincup, S Goya Wannamethee

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Age and ageing, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Review
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  8. High-sensitivity cardiac troponin I and frailty: associations with the frailty index and Fried phenotype in older women.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026
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  20. Identifying the Biomarker Profile of Pre-Frail and Frail People: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from UK Biobank.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Douglas G J McKechnieDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
A Olia PapacostaDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Lucy T LennonDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Sheena E RamsayPopulation Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Peter H WhincupPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's University of London, London, UK.
S Goya WannametheeDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
University College London · GBNewcastle University · GBSt George's, University of London · GB

Funding

British Heart Foundation PG/09/024/26857British Heart Foundation RG/19/4/34452
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductioncardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic inflammation are implicated in the development of frailty. Longitudinal analyses of inflammatory markers, biomarkers of cardiac dysfunction and incidence of frailty are limited.

methodsin the British Regional Heart Study, 1,225 robust or pre-frail men aged 71-92 years underwent a baseline examination, with questionnaire-based frailty assessment after 3 years. Frailty definitions were based on the Fried phenotype. Associations between incident frailty and biomarkers of cardiac dysfunction (high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP)) and inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6)) were examined, by tertile, with the lowest as reference.

resultsfollow-up data were available for 981 men. Ninety one became frail. Adjusted for age, pre-frailty, prevalent and incident CVD, comorbidity, polypharmacy and socioeconomic status, IL-6 (third tertile OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.07-5.17) and hs-cTnT (third tertile OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.03-4.90) were associated with increased odds of frailty. CRP (third tertile OR 1.83, 95% CI 0.97-4.08) and NT-proBNP (second tertile OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.23-1.01) showed no significant association with incident frailty. The top tertiles of CRP, IL-6, hscTnT and NT-proBNP were strongly associated with mortality prior to follow-up.

conclusionIL-6 is associated with incident frailty, supporting the prevailing argument that inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of frailty. Cardiomyocyte injury may be associated with frailty risk. Associations between elevated CRP and frailty cannot be fully discounted; NT-proBNP may have a non-linear relationship with incident frailty. CRP, IL-6, hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP are vulnerable to survivorship bias.

Indexed as

FrailtyBiomarkersHumansInflammationMaleNatriuretic Peptide, BrainPeptide FragmentsProspective StudiesRisk FactorsTroponin TBiomarkersNatriuretic Peptide, BrainPeptide FragmentsTroponin Tagingbiomarkersfrailtyinflammationolder peoplepro-brain natriuretic peptide (1–76)troponin T

Identifiers

PMID34254997
PMCPMC8675445
OpenAlexW3181015143

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.