Age and Gender-related Variations of Molecular and Phenotypic Parameters in A Cohort of Sicilian Population: from Young to Centenarians

Abstract

People are living longer, but lifespan increase does not coincide with a boost in health-span. Thus, improving the quality of life of older people is a priority. Centenarians reach extreme longevity in a relatively good health status, escaping or delaying fatal or strongly invalidating diseases. Therefore, studying processes involved in longevity is important to explain the biological mechanisms of health and well-being, since knowledge born from this approach can provide valuable information on how to slow aging. We performed the present study in a well characterized very homogeneous sample of 173 people from Western Sicily, to update existing literature on some phenotypic aspects of aging and longevity and to propose a range of values for older people. We classified 5 age groups, from young adults to centenarians, to understand the age and gender-related variations of the different parameters under study. We collected anamnestic data and performed anthropometric, bioimpedance, molecular, haematological, oxidative, and hematochemical tests, adopting a multidimensional analysis approach. An important evidence of the present study is that there are differences related to both age and gender in several biomarkers. Indeed, gender differences seem to be still poorly considered and inadequately investigated in aging as well as in other medical studies. Moreover, we often observed comparable parameters between young and centenarians rather than non-agenarians and centenarians, hypothesizing a sort of slowdown, almost followed by a reversal trend, in the decay of systemic deterioration. The study of centenarians provides important indications on how to slow aging, with benefits for those who are more vulnerable to disease and disability. The identification of the factors that predispose to a long and healthy life is of enormous interest for translational medicine in an aging world.

How Important Are Genes to Achieve Longevity?

“…In Sicilian LLIs, we did not observe the positive association of APOEε2 nor the negative one of APOε4 with longevity although this might be due to the small size of the sample [ 48 ]. These results are consistent with a recent analysis that shows that in South Italy there is a weaker protective effect of APOEε2 and no detrimental effect of APOEε4 [ 38 ].…”

“…These results suggest that factors related to living in the south of Italy may mitigate the deleterious effect of APOEε4. In particular, the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) followed in Italy at a young age by the generations under study [ 48 ] should contribute to that difference. Detrimental effects of APOEε4 may be, indeed, alleviated through diet interventions, specifically the MedDiet [ 49 , 50 ].…”

Multimorbidity Clusters in the Oldest Old: Results from the EpiChron Cohort

“…We saw cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, diabetes, ictus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and dementia; although these conditions seem clinically different, there is evidence that they share a common inflammatory background [ 15 , 77 , 78 ]. Although there is still much to learn, more and more studies are underlining the physiological mechanisms of systemic low-grade chronic inflammation and its impact on health [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 77 , 79 , 80 ]. In the elderly, the age-related chronic state of low-grade systemic inflammation, commonly known as inflammageing, is implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous chronic inflammatory diseases, and it is a risk factor for mortality [ 15 , 77 , 79 , 81 , 82 ].…”

“…In the elderly, the age-related chronic state of low-grade systemic inflammation, commonly known as inflammageing, is implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous chronic inflammatory diseases, and it is a risk factor for mortality [ 15 , 77 , 79 , 81 , 82 ]. Inflammageing results from many factors, including genetics, ageing, and lifestyle [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Adopting healthy lifestyle factors could prevent the development of chronic inflammation and certain chronic diseases.…”

“…Chronic diseases tend to accumulate as we age, and there are many reasons for that. Nevertheless, the good news is that many of these reasons depend on us, or, at least, we can control some of them (together, healthcare professionals and patients) [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. It seems that enjoying a good health status at younger old age is associated with a higher chance of enjoying healthy ageing [ 21 , 22 ].…”