Effect of Infections and Global DNA Methylation on Frailty Trajectories in Hospitalized Older Patients: a Multicenter Observational Study (INFRAGEN)

This prospective multicenter study aims at exploring the impact of infections on intra-hospital and 3-month changes in the frailty profile of older inpatients. To understand the complex pathways under the relationship between infections and frailty, this study will evaluate infection-related clinical and biochemical markers of systemic inflammation and genetics/epigenetics markers at ward admission. The interplay between clinical, functional, and genetics/epigenetics factors will be evaluated in a subgroup of patients by testing whether 3-month changes in frailty concur with changes in the genomic DNA markers. This study will help characterize the pathophysiological mechanisms of frailty and identify at-risk conditions that may accelerate its course.