Animal models of frailty: current applications in clinical research

Abstract

The ethical, logistical, and biological complications of working with an older population of people inherently limits clinical studies of frailty. The recent development of animal models of frailty, and tools for assessing frailty in animal models provides an invaluable opportunity for frailty research. This review summarizes currently published animal models of frailty including the interleukin-10 knock-out mouse, the mouse frailty phenotype assessment tool, and the mouse clinical frailty index. It discusses both current and potential roles of these models in research into mechanisms of frailty, interventions to prevent/delay frailty, and the effect of frailty on outcomes. Finally, this review discusses some of the challenges and opportunities of translating research findings from animals to humans.

Keywords:

• mouse models
• frailty index
• frailty phenotype
• IL-10 knock-out

Disclosure

SJM and RdC are supported by the intramural research program of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.