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PREVENTING INFLAMMAGING:AN URGENT INTERVENTION-INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ANTIAGING-REGENERATIVE MEDICINE-MONACO,MARCH 2012-


Preventing inflammaging  : an urgent intervention
 
A role for inflammation in the process of aging and age-related disease has been clearly established in several large epidemiologic studies of older adults. While acute inflammation is normally tightly controlled and is a part of the healing process, the low-grade elevation of inflammatory markers seen in older adults has been associated with a number of chronic conditions of aging, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes,sarcopenia,frailty, physical disability and cognitive decline. A number of inflammatory markers, especially Interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (CRP) have the most consistent associations with age-related chronic diseases and disability. IL-6 is a cytokine that is produced by the cells of immune system, vascular endothelial cells, adipocytes and skeletal muscle and has shown to have anti-inflammatory as well as pro-inflammatory properties. TNF-alpha, another cytokine, is produced mainly by macrophages and also by some other cells including lymphoid cells, mast cells, vascular endothelial cells, cardiac myocytes, adipocytes, fibroblasts, and neuronal tissue. CRP is an acute phase protein produced by the liver in response to elevations in IL-6. Numerous studies have shown that levels of several cytokines but especially IL-6 and TNF-alpha increase with age even in apparently healthy individuals and in the absence of acute infection. This is in contrast to younger individuals where the levels of cytokines are tightly regulated at very low levels. Levels seen in older adults range from low levels to modest elevations, but are much lower than the levels seen with acute infection. The exact mechanism for the increase with age has not been fully understood. Up regulation of tnf- IL 6 genes and down regulation of  IL 10 gene interact with environmental and life style factors promoting the typical immunedysregulation of aging process.These include the known increase in total and visceral adiposity with age ,multihormonal imbalancements after menopause and andropause,sleep disorders,subclinical chronic infections and antigenic overload,chronic pain and inflammatory syndromes,smoking,disnutrition and physical inactivity. Oxidative damage with aging, which further invokes an inflammatory response, may be another mechanism leading to an increase in the level of these markers.
In this lecture are explored the most important causative factors of inflammaging and in particular  the  main predictors of IL-6 elevation in aging people:   increased BMI and waist circumference(WC), higher total disease burden,decreased  walking speed, higher baseline IL-6 and WBC count.
These factors may be possible targets of  urgent interventions aimed at preventing the development of chronic pro-inflammatory state in older individuals and their consequence.
 
30 Aprile 2012