Study on the chronic low-grade inflammation and its related factors in the elderly

Abstract

Objective To investigate the state of chronic low-grade inflammation in healthy elderly adults and its related factors. Methods A total of 762 healthy people aged 30-99 years were retrospectively analyzed and assigned into 2 groups: the young group(30-59 years old, n=272)and the elderly group(60-99 years old, n=490). Patients in the elder group were subgrouped into 2 groups: the 60 to 79-year-old group(n=288)and the 80 to 99-year-old group(n=202). The differences in levels of tumor necrosis factor(TNFα)and hypersensitive C-reactive protein(hsCRP)were compared between groups.Correlations of TNFα or hsCRP levels with age, body mass index(BMI)and metabolic indexes were analyzed. Results The levels of TNFα and hsCRP were higher in elderly male group than in the young male group[(16.03±2.32)×10-15 mol/L vs.(15.28±2.63)×10-15 mol/L, (1.30±1.01 mg/L) vs.(0.79±0.61) mg/L, P=0.019 and 0.048], while there was no obvious difference between the 60 to 79-year-old male group and the 80 to 99-year-old male group(P=0.957 and 0.937). TNFα and hsCRP levels were higher in the elderly female group than in the young female group[(15.76±2.66)×10-15 mol/L vs.(14.43±3.18)×10-15 mol/L, (1.30±0.81) mg/L vs.(0.75±0.74) mg/L, P=0.006 and 0.001], and no difference were observed between the 60 to 79-year-old female group and the 80 to 99-year-old female group(P=0.282 and 0.389). Spearman`s rank correlation coefficient analysis showed that TNFα level was positively associated with age, total protein, albumin, total-cholesterol, glomerular filtration rate, uric acid(P<0.05)in man and positively associated with age, triacylglycerol and fasting blood glucose in woman, while hsCRP level was positively associated with age, body mass index, total-cholesterol and negatively associated with total bilirubin, direct bilirubin and indirect bilirubin(P<0.05)in man and was positively associated with age, alkaline phosphatase, triacylglycerol and fasting blood glucose and negatively associated with GFR(P<0.05)in woman. Conclusions Healthy elderly people are often in a state of chronic low-grade inflammation, which is closely related to several metabolic parameters. Key words: Encephalites; C-reactive protein; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha