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Aims:We are currently witnessing changes in views on the evaluation of serum proteins. A decrease may signal not only malnutrition. It may also be an indicator of simultaneously occurring infl ammatory disease. Prealbumin, due to its short half-life, is a suitable indicator of changes in protein-energy balance, but its levels show, as with other serum proteins, a decrease in the case of infl ammation too. The present study aimed to determine the prealbumin values of hospitalized geriatric patients and how they are aff ected by infl ammatory disease.Methods: In 101 patients aged over 80 years, the relationships were compared between prealbumin and C-reactive protein in the whole group and then in the subgroups with normal and increased C-reactive protein.Results: In 67.33 % of hospitalized geriatric patients prealbumin was below the limit of the norm. A statistically highly signifi cant dependence (p < 0.001) was demonstrated between a decrease in prealbumin and an increase in Creactive protein in the whole group. In the subgroup with normal C-reactive protein, no statistically signifi cant decrease in prealbumin was demonstrated, whereas in the subgroup with increased C-reactive protein a signifi cant decrease in prealbumin (p < 0.001 for the whole group, p < 0.01 men, p < 0.05 women) was found.Conclusions: The study demonstrated subnormal mean initial values of prealbumin and a highly statistically significant negative correlation between a decrease in prealbumin and an increase in C-reactive protein in the whole group. We confi rm that in infl ammation there is a statistically signifi cant decrease in serum concentration of prealbumin.

The changes in visco-elastic properties of skin belong to the most conspicuous manifestations of cutaneous aging. In spite of apparent simplicity, the measurement of mechanical parameters of skin in vivo presents both theoretical and practical problems. Reproducibility, standardization, duration of measurement, discomfort for experimental subjects are the main complications. Measurement and analysis of transient deformation response to pressure stress provides theoretically consistent and practically applicable methodology.Experiment: The transient deformation response of skin was measured in two groups consisting of 15 healthy men and 17 healthy women. The range of age interval was 20 to 58 years. The deformation response was measured as reaction of skin on sudden change of pressure stress between two levels of loading on skin surface.Results: Transient response of human skin consists of sum of two exponential curves. A "rapid" exponential curve has time constant typically of order 10 ms, while "slow" exponential curve has a time constant of order 0.1 to ls. Both time constants increase with chronological age. Time for drop of deformation on 12.5% of full deformation proved to be a simple and sensitive criterion of skin aging, with strong correlation with chronological age.Main advantage of the method: Measurement is quantitative and reproducible. Procedure is easy to repeat. Its average duration is approx. 2 minutes and it does not represent any discomfort for test subjects.

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