ArticleGeroScience2026
Associations of IL-17 and TGF-β1 with physical frailty in older adults.
Article in GeroScience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysical frailty is a prevalent geriatric syndrome associated with reduced physiological resilience and adverse outcomes. Beyond classical inflammaging, age-related changes in immune regulation and tissue repair may contribute to frailty pathophysiology. Biomarkers involved in adaptive immune responses and remodeling pathways, such as IL-17 and TGF-β1, may help characterize the inflammatory-regenerative milieu associated with frailty. We therefore investigated the association between circulating immune biomarkers and physical frailty severity in older adults.
methodsIn this cross-sectional analysis, 167 community-dwelling outpatients aged ≥ 65 years (mean age 75.2 ± 6.4 years; 54.5% women) were classified as robust, pre-frail, or frail according to a phenotype-based frailty score. Circulating levels of TGF-β1, IL-17, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10, and IFN-γ were measured. Associations with frailty were assessed using ordinal logistic regression, quantile regression, and component-specific logistic models.
resultsIL-17 concentrations progressively declined with increasing frailty severity (median 9.24 ng/L in robust vs. 4.91 ng/L in frail participants; p = 0.004). In adjusted ordinal models, higher IL-17 levels were independently associated with lower frailty severity (OR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.46-0.84; p = 0.002), with each doubling of IL-17 corresponding to a 28% reduction in frailty odds. Conversely, higher TGF-β1 levels were independently associated with greater frailty severity (OR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.05-5.13; p = 0.036). IL-17 showed consistent associations with physical frailty domains, including slowness (adjusted OR = 0.57), and low physical performance (adjusted OR = 0.68). Similar associations were observed in exploratory analyses restricted to cognitively intact participants. However, formal interaction analyses did not support significant effect modification by cognitive status. In contrast, classical inflammatory markers (IL-6, TNF-α), as well as IFN-γ and IL-10, were not significantly associated with frailty across any of the models.
conclusionsPhysical frailty was associated with lower IL-17 and higher TGF-β1 levels, suggesting that immune-related pathways beyond classical systemic inflammation may be associated with physical frailty. Rather than reflecting overt systemic inflammation, these findings suggest that biological pathways involved in immune regulation and tissue remodeling may be associated with physical frailty. IL-17 and TGF-β1 may therefore represent potentially informative biomarkers for future investigations of the biological mechanisms underlying resilience and functional decline in aging.
trial registrationNot applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42400822What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.