Role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in frailty: From mechanisms to interventions

Frailty is a common medical syndrome which largely increases the risk of disability, depression, falls, hospitalization and mortality. An increasing number of research suggests that frailty is reversible by medical interventions at its early stage. Therefore, efficient detection is utterly important for frail population. Since numerous biological processes have been indicated in frail population, the critical regulators in these biological processes could provide biomarkers for early detection or treatment for frailty. The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been associated with several biological process ranging from cognitive function to inflammation, therefore it could be an important regulator for frailty. In this review, we would discuss the mechanism association between different indicators of frailty and BDNF. Furthermore, we summarize the approaches to interfere with BDNF in healthy and pathologic condition, which could lead to identification of potential interventional strategies for frailty.