Low serum albumin, aspartate aminotransferase, and body mass are risk factors for frailty in elderly people with diabetes: possible mechanistic role of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate – a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Relatively low dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) and high cortisol/DHEA ratio have been suggested to be associated with frailty, evaluated using a physical scale. However, the significance of these two hormones for frailty in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has not been assessed using a wider range of measures of frailty, including physical, mental, and social indices. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study to investigate the significance of these two hormones for frailty in elderly T2DM patients (n=148; ≥65 years), using a broad assessment, the clinical frailty scale, and to reevaluate the risk factors for frailty in elderly T2DM patients. We compared parameters between the non-frail and frail groups using the unpaired t and Mann-Whitney U tests. The Jonckheere-Therpstra test was used to identify relationships with the severity of frailty and risk factors were identified using binary regression analysis. Results: Simple regression analysis identified a number of significant risk factors for frailty, including DHEAS <70 µg/dL and cortisol/DHEA-S ratio ≥0.2. Multiple regression analysis showed that low albumin (<4.0 g/dl) (odds ratio [OR]=5.79, p <0.001), low aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity (<25 IU/L) (OR=4.34, p =0.009), and low body mass (BM) (<53 kg) (OR=3.85, p =0.012) were independent risk factors for frailty. A significant decrease in DHEA-S and a significant increase in the cortisol/DHEA-S ratio occurred alongside increases in the severity of frailty. DHEA-S concentration positively correlated with both serum albumin and BM. Conclusions: Hypoalbuminemia, low AST, and low BM are independent risk factors for frailty in elderly T2DM patients, strongly implying relative malnutrition in these frail patients. DHEA-S may be important for the maintenance of liver function and BM. A decrease in DHEA-S and an increase in the cortisol/DHEAS ratio may be involved in the mechanism of the effect of malnutrition in elderly T2DM patients.