The Relationship Between Urinary Total Polyphenols and the Frailty Phenotype in a Community-Dwelling Older Population: The InCHIANTI Study

M. Urpi-Sarda, C. Andres-Lacueva, M. Rabassa, C. Ruggiero,R. Zamora-Ros, S. Bandinelli, L. Ferrucci, A. Cherubini

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2015;70(9):1141-7

Polyphenols are phytochemicals in foods of plant origin (e.g. fruits and vegetables). Some studies reported an inverse association between diets rich in polyphenols and risk of cardiovascular diseases, some cancers, diabetes, premature death, and functional limitations and disabilities.

Many scientists believe that the effects of polyphenols on health depend on the amount of polyphenols consumed, on their bioavailability and bioactivity, which cannot be assessed by evaluating  dietary intake of total polyphenols (DTP). Urinary total polyphenols (UTP) might be a better measure.

This study aimed to investigate whether polyphenol exposure, measured either as UTP or as DTP, was associated with the frailty syndrome and its individual criteria in an older community-dwelling population.

Data at baseline from 811 participants of the Invecchiare in Chianty study (InCHIANTI study) aged 65 years and older were used. UTP was determined through laboratory assessment. DTP was estimated using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire and the InCHIANTI polyphenol database.

Data obtained shown that both DTP and UTP concentrations progressively decrease from nonfrail to frail participants. Participants in the highest UTP tertile compared to those in the lowest tertile were significantly less likely to be both frail (odds ratio [OR] = 0.36 [0.14–0.88], p = .025) and prefrail (OR = 0.64 [0.42–0.98], p = .038). Exhaustion and slowness were the only individual frailty criteria significantly associated with UTP tertiles.

Comment:These data provide new evidence suggesting that, in older people, a diet rich in polyphenols may be protective of the fragility. The protective effect of polyphenols towards frailty might be accounted for by their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity. These findings should be confirmed in longitudinal studies.