Poor Diet, Long Sleep, and Lack of Physical Activity Are Associated with Inflammation among Non-Demented Community-Dwelling Elderly.

Maria Basta,Symeon Panagiotakis,Panagiotis Simos,Mary Yannakoulia,Ioannis Zaganas,Alexandros N Vgontzas,Christina Belogianni

doi:10.3390/healthcare10010143

Abstract

Inflammation in elderly is associated with physical and cognitive morbidity and mortality. We aimed to explore the association of modifiable lifestyle parameters with inflammation among non-demented, community-dwelling elderly. A sub-sample of 117 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 63) and cognitively non-impaired controls (CNI, n = 54) were recruited from a large, population-based cohort in Crete, Greece, of 3140 elders (>60 years old). All participants underwent assessment of medical history/physical examination, extensive neuropsychiatric/neuropsychological evaluation, diet, three-day 24-h actigraphy, subjective sleep, physical activity, and measurement of IL-6 and TNFα plasma levels. Associations between inflammatory markers and diet, objective sleep duration, subjective sleep quality, and lack of physical activity were assessed using multivariate models. Regression analyses in the total group revealed significant associations between TNF-α and low vegetable consumption (p = 0.003), and marginally with objective long nighttime sleep duration (p = 0.04). In addition, IL-6 was associated with low vegetable consumption (p = 0.001) and lack of physical activity (p = 0.001). Poor diet and lack of physical activity appear to be modifiable risk factors of inflammation, whereas long sleep appears to be a marker of increased inflammatory response in elderly. Our findings may have clinical implications given the association of inflammatory response with morbidity, including cognitive decline, and mortality in elderly.

Highlights

In the elderly, several molecular and cellular changes of the innate and acquired immunity have been described as potential contributors to biological aging [1]
The main findings of this study are that the plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, i.e., TNF-α and IL-6, among community-dwelling elderly with and without mild cognitive impairment are independently and significantly associated with decreased consumption of vegetables, objective long sleep duration and self-reported lack of physical activity
It appears that poor diet and lack of physical activity may be predisposing factors related with inflammation in elderly, whereas long sleep duration seems to be a marker of increased inflammation in this population

Summary

Introduction

Several molecular and cellular changes of the innate and acquired immunity have been described as potential contributors to biological aging [1]. Pro-inflammatory responses, cellular senescence and immune senescence [3,4] are important components in the disorders of aging, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic kidney disease, dementia, and depression, and other age-related conditions, such as functional decline, sarcopenia, frailty and mortality [2]. In light of these observations, there is a growing trend to approach overall mortality and morbidity, through the study of how various modifiable factors, such as diet, sleep and physical exercise, can affect the inflammatory load and impact overall quality of life [5]. Little is known about the associations between inflammatory markers and specific food groups (i.e., vegetables, red meat, dairy, legumes, etc.) in older adults, including elderly with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), information that may be addressed in daily clinical practice

Methods

Results

Conclusion