Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) or Presbycusis is the most frequent sensory deficiency in older adults and is associated with comorbidities, such as falls, cognitive decline, and frailty. Frailty is related to poor health outcomes in old age. Recent research suggested that ARHL may be a potentially modifiable risk factor for frailty, although inconclusive. The use of animal models to study the correlation between ARHL and frailty is important to test future interventions to be translated into clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine if there is an association between ARHL and frailty in experimental animals based on the human frailty phenotype. This research studied male and female C57Bl/6J mice, at different ages (6, 14, and 22 months). Auditory steady-state responses (ASSR) threshold shifts were measured at different frequencies. To assess frailty status, we were based on the "Valence Score" which consists of measuring: weakness, weight loss, low level of activity, slowness, and little resistance. We found that hearing is significantly lower in older age groups. The mice become frail as they age. The worsening in ASSR threshold shifts with age correlates significantly with an increasing frailty. No significant differences were found between both sexes. Our research is, to our knowledge, the first carried out in experimental animals to establish the association between ARHL and frailty, which would provide a useful tool to evaluate future interventions in mice before translating them into clinical practice.

中文翻译：

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小鼠模型研究：老年性聋和虚弱之间有关系吗？


年龄相关性听力损失 （ARHL） 或老年性耳聋是老年人最常见的感觉缺陷，与跌倒、认知能力下降和虚弱等合并症有关。虚弱与老年健康状况不佳有关。最近的研究表明，ARHL 可能是虚弱的潜在可改变危险因素，尽管尚无定论。使用动物模型研究 ARHL 与衰弱之间的相关性对于测试未来转化为临床实践的干预措施非常重要。本研究的目的是根据人类虚弱表型确定 ARHL 与实验动物的虚弱之间是否存在关联。本研究研究了不同年龄 （6 、 14 和 22 个月） 的雄性和雌性 C57Bl/6J 小鼠。在不同频率下测量听觉稳态反应 （ASSR） 阈值偏移。为了评估虚弱状态，我们基于“效价评分”，该评分包括测量：虚弱、体重减轻、活动水平低、反应迟缓和阻力小。我们发现老年人群的听力明显较低。老鼠会随着年龄的增长而变得虚弱。ASSR 阈值的恶化随年龄的变化与衰弱程度的增加显著相关。两性之间未发现显著差异。据我们所知，我们的研究是首次在实验动物中进行，以确定 ARHL 与虚弱之间的关联，这将为在将小鼠转化为临床实践之前评估未来的小鼠干预措施提供有用的工具。