AI Insight
Researchers analyzed serum metabolites from 237 individuals tracked over 28 years to identify biochemical signatures associated with physical resilience—the ability to maintain physical performance from middle to older age. They found that specific metabolites, including medium-chain acylcarnitines, kynurenine, and certain drug metabolites, were differentially associated with physical resilience status, with some markers showing stronger associations with disease phenotypes in low-resilience individuals. The study revealed that kynurenine, a tryptophan breakdown product, increased more rapidly with age in people with low physical resilience.
Why it matters
This research provides potential biomarkers for identifying individuals at risk of age-related physical decline before functional impairments become apparent. The metabolic signatures could inform interventions to promote healthy aging and maintain independence in older adults, and may help guide personalized treatment strategies.
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⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
Dieser Artikel wurde noch nicht von unabhängigen Experten begutachtet. Die Ergebnisse sind vorläufig und sollten mit Vorsicht interpretiert werden.
Lifecourse physical resilience is defined by the ability to maintain abilities across multiple domains of physical performance. While the importance of physical resilience in functional independence and mobility disability is clear, studies investigating metabolomic signatures of physical resilience are lacking. Here, we performed untargeted metabolomics on serum samples from a community-based cohort of 237 individuals followed over 28 years, and applied spectral data mining tools to map identified metabolites to health phenotypes from public repositories. We identified metabolites across multiple chemical classes, including acylcarnitines, glutamine conjugates, and phosphocholines, that were differentially associated with physical resilience status. Notably, medium-chain acylcarnitines negatively associated with physical resilience were more frequently observed in disease phenotypes than in healthy individuals. Kynurenine, a tryptophan metabolite linked to age-related functional decline, increased more steeply with age in individuals with low physical resilience. We also found that metabolites of the antihypertensive drug verapamil were associated with physical resilience in a metabolism-dependent manner, differing between oxidative and glucuronidated forms. Together, these metabolic signatures offer a resource for identifying biochemical pathways and biomarkers relevant to physical resilience for healthy aging.