Abstract
Rats are a commonly used model for aging studies, and a frailty assessment tool for rats would be of considerable value. There has been a recent focus on the development of preclinical models of frailty in mice. A mouse clinical frailty index (FI) was developed based on clinical frailty assessment tools. This FI measures the accumulation of clinically evident health-related deficits in mice. This paper aimed to develop a rat clinical FI. Male Fischer 344 rats were aged from 6 to 9 months (n = 12), and from 13 to 21 months (n = 41). A FI comprised of 27 healthrelated deficits was developed from a review of the literature and consultation with a veterinarian. Deficits were scored 0 if absent, 0.5 if mild, or 1 if severe. A FI score was determined for each rat every 3-4 months, and for the older group mortality was assessed up to 21 months. Mean FI scores significantly increased at each time point for the older rats. A high FI score measured at both 17 months of age and terminally was also associated with decreased probability of survival as assessed with Kaplan-Meier curves. The rat clinical FI has significant value for use in aging and interventional studies.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 897-903 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences |
Volume | 72 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1 2017 |
Keywords
- Deficit accumulation
- Frailty index
- Preclinical models
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aging
- Geriatrics and Gerontology