Abstract
The complexities and heterogeneity of the ageing process have slowed the development of consensus on appropriate biomarkers of healthy ageing. The Medical Research Council-Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) is a collaboration between researchers and clinicians at the Universities of Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. One of CIMA's objectives is to 'Identify and share optimal techniques and approaches to monitor age-related changes in all musculoskeletal tissues, and to provide an integrated assessment of musculoskeletal function'-in other words to develop a toolkit for assessing musculoskeletal ageing. This toolkit is envisaged as an instrument that can be used to characterise and quantify musculoskeletal function during 'normal' ageing, lend itself to use in large-scale, internationally important cohorts, and provide a set of biomarker outcome measures for epidemiological and intervention studies designed to enhance healthy musculoskeletal ageing. Such potential biomarkers include: Biochemical measurements in biofluids or tissue samples, in vivo measurements of body composition, imaging of structural and physical properties, and functional tests. This review assesses candidate biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing under these four headings, details their biological bases, strengths and limitations, and makes practical recommendations for their use. In addition, we identify gaps in the evidence base and priorities for further research on biomarkers of musculoskeletal ageing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | iv1-iv19 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Age and Ageing |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | Suppl_4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Published [online]: 07 September 2018Funding
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Arthritis Research UK as part of the MRC— Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) [MR/K006312/1; MR/P020941/1]. The MRC—Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing is a collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool, Sheffield and Newcastle. The Centre provided funding for the meeting on which this review is based, and for medical writer support with drafting an initial meeting report and editorial assistance in preparation of this manuscript. Mandy Peffers is funded through a Wellcome Trust Clinical Intermediate Fellowship. Grant 107471. Eugene McCloskey has been in receipt of research funds from Roche Diagnostics and speaker fees from GE Lunar, Hologic, Roche, Vertec Scientific. Matthias Hackl is a shareholder and employee of TAmiRNA GmbH, which is a private company involved in the development of in vitro diagnostic tests. Richard Eastell has received grant funding and consultancy from Immunodiagnostics Systems and Roche Diagnostics. The authors thank Louise Jaeger-Wright, CIMA Centre Manager, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool for administrative support throughout the preparation of this manuscript. We also thank Dr Penny Gray, of Penny Gray and Associates, for medical writing and editorial support, which was funded by the MRC—Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) in accordance with Good Publication Practice (GPP3) guidelines (http:// www.ismpp.org/gpp3).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing | |
| Immunodiagnostics Systems and Roche | |
| Roche Diagnostics | |
| National Institute on Aging | P01AG051442 |
| Wellcome Trust | |
| Medical Research Council | MR/P020941/1 |
| Arthritis Research UK | |
| Chartered Institute of Management Accountants | MR/K006312/1, GPP3 |
| Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland |
Keywords
- biomarkers
- bone
- cartilage
- healthy ageing
- musculoskeletal ageing
- skeletal muscle
