184 - Redox-Markers in the European MARK-AGE Study

Abstract

Redox markers have been associated with age and disease status in various human studies. It is known that life expectancy is increasing, whereas health span, i.e. the disease-free period in a person’s life, remains constant. This means that although humans reach higher age, the disease-ridden period may prevail. Biomarkers reflecting ageing and health span are of increasing interest to monitor and possibly even intervene in these processes. However, so far redox markers have never been assessed in a large number of samples in the general healthy population in relation to age. We here present results on oxidative stress markers of the European MARK-AGE study, an observational cross-sectional study in seven countries with 3,000 participants aiming to identify a set of biomarkers of ageing. The study comprised three different groups: 1) subjects aged 35-74 recruited in an age-stratified manner from the healthy general population (HG; n = 2,200), 2) offspring from centenarians (CO; n = 500) as well as 3) spouses of centenarian-offspring (SCO; n = 300). Our results indicate that the three groups differ significantly in biomarkers of protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation, glycation and also the activity of protein degradation systems and repair enzymes. Interestingly, none of the analyzed parameters differed significantly between CO and SCO. In contrast, most parameters were statistically significantly different between HG and CO as well as between HG and SCO. Since CO and SCO did not differ in any of the assessed biomarkers, lifestyle is one likely contributor for the altered redox status, offering a promising approach for intervention studies. However, before intervention studies are carried out, the reason for the altered redox markers in these groups should be further investigated as they might also be influenced by metabolism and genetics.