Applying a life course approach to elucidate the biology of sex differences in frailty: early-life gonadectomy diminishes late-life robustness in male and female dogs in the Exceptional Aging in Rottweilers Study.

Abstract

Frailty refers to a state of increased vulnerability to mortality and other adverse outcomes as a consequence of age-related physiological decline. Sex differences in frailty have been reported; women are usually more frail than men. Physical frailty in men and women is the result of both sociobehavioral and biological factors, making the deciphering of the biology of sex differences in frailty challenging. Investigators have measured frailty in aging animals, including mice and dogs. We posited that companion dogs provide a useful opportunity to study sex differences in the biology of frailty, circumventing many of the sociobehavioral determinants of frailty that complicate human studies.