Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered 18 proteins in blood that are linked to both heart failure and frailty.
This important finding, published in JAMA Cardiology, could lead to new ways to predict, prevent, or treat these conditions, which often occur together in older adults.
“Our research shows that heart failure and frailty share similar biological pathways,” said Dr. Amil Shah, the study leader and a professor of internal medicine and public health at UT Southwestern.
“This means that treatments for one condition might also help with the other.”
As people age, heart failure and frailty become more common, especially in those over 70.
Heart failure is when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, and frailty involves a general decline in physical function, often including weight loss, exhaustion, and low activity levels.
Up to half of people with heart failure also experience frailty, and those who are frail are more likely to develop heart failure.
While inflammation is known to play a role in both conditions, it was unclear if they shared specific molecular pathways.
To explore this, Dr. Shah and his team used data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, which has been tracking health factors in participants since the late 1980s.
They analyzed blood samples from 10,630 participants, looking for hospitalizations due to heart failure and comparing nearly 5,000 proteins in those who did and did not experience heart failure.
The researchers identified 83 proteins linked to heart failure, narrowing it down to 18 that were also associated with frailty.
These findings were confirmed in a separate group of 3,189 participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study.
Many of the identified proteins are involved in inflammation, while others are related to tissue fibrosis (scarring), lipid metabolism, and cell death. Genetic analysis suggested that five of these proteins might actually cause both heart failure and frailty.
Future research will focus on understanding how these proteins contribute to or result from heart failure and frailty. This knowledge could lead to the development of new drugs to prevent or treat both conditions simultaneously.
Other researchers involved in the study included Dr. Diego Ramonfaur, the first author, and Dr. Victoria Lamberson, a data scientist at UT Southwestern.
In summary, this study highlights the connection between heart failure and frailty at a molecular level, offering hope for better treatments and preventive measures for these common age-related conditions.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about top 10 foods for a healthy heart, and how to eat right for heart rhythm disorders.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to eat your way to cleaner arteries, and salt and heart health: does less really mean more?
