ReviewInflammation markers predicting frailty and mortality in the elderly
Section snippets
Inflamm-ageing and inflammation markers
Ageing is characterized by a chronic, low-grade inflammatory status, the so-called “inflamm-ageing”, which is under genetic control and appears to be the consequence of lifelong antigenic load (Franceschi et al., 2000a, Franceschi et al., 2000b, Ginaldi and Sternberg, 2003, Ginaldi et al., 2005, Pawelec et al., 2005a). This peculiar inflammatory activity, leading to long-term tissue damage, is detrimental for longevity and has been found to be related to mortality risk from all causes in older
Serological markers of inflamm-ageing
Low-grade elevations in levels of circulating proinflammatory cytokines and their receptors, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), soluble TNF receptors, etc., are strong independent risk factors of morbidity and mortality in the elderly (Bruunsgaard and Pedersen, 2003, Brunsgaard et al., 2003a). A further consequence of hyperproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in the elderly is the increased production of diverse
Cellular markers of inflamm-ageing
A recent observational study demonstrated that the white blood cell count, which is a stable, well-standardized, widely available and inexpensive measure of systemic inflammation, is an important predictor of all-causes mortality in the elderly, mainly cardiovascular disease entities (Margolis et al., 2005). Moreover, a high leukocyte count may identify high-risk individuals who are not currently identified by traditional cardiovascular risk factors (Leng et al., 2005).
Concerning lymphocyte
Genetic markers of inflamm-ageing
Ageing is the product of an interaction among genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors, which in turn influence longevity (Cooper, 2003, Olivieri et al., 2003).
An inflammatory status is compatible with extreme longevity in good health and paradoxically proinflammatory characteristics have been documented in healthy centenarians (Franceschi and Bonafè, 2003, Franceschi et al., 2000a). From this perspective, inflammation and the proinflammatory status present in aged people and centenarians
The immune risk phenotype (IRP)
Senescence has been coined as the phase of the life span associated with an increased probability of dying. It has been also defined as a process resulting in an increased probability of death secondary to pathology (Boren and Gershwin, 2004). The immune risk phenotype (IRP) is a set of bioparameters associated with poor immune function predicting high-risk mortality in the elderly (Pawelec et al., 2005b). In the Swedish longitudinal study, known as the OCTO study (Ferguson et al., 1995),
Concluding remarks
Ageing rate and longevity, as well as the incidence of the great majority of age-related diseases, which represent the most frequent causes of mortality in the elderly, are determined by both environmental and genetic factors. Quality and quantity of the lifelong antigenic load, conditioning inflamm-ageing, are major determinants of immunosenescence, ageing rate and longevity, as well as of quality of life in advanced ages (De Martinis et al., 2005).
The analysis of immunological changes during
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