Age-Related Changes of Anti-Elastin Antibodies in Senescence-Accelerated Mice

Abstract

Background: Antibodies recognizing the elastin precursor tropoelastin (ATEAb) or degradation products α-elastin (AEAb) are found in the serum of healthy human subjects, as a part of a homeostatic mechanism which assembles new or clears altered elastin structures. Serum ATEAb (reflecting elastin synthesis) and AEAb (reflecting elastin destruction) appear to correlate with the production and breakdown of the elastic tissue, respectively. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate plasma levels of AEAb and ATEAb in senescence-accelerated prone (SAMP8) and senescence-accelerated resistant (SAMR1) mice, compared with imprinting control region (ICR) mice in order to evaluate their age-related changes. Methods: The levels of AEAb and ATEAb were measured by home-made ELISA in plasma of SAMP8, SAMR1, and ICR mice, grouped according to their age (3 and 9 months) and sex. The specificity of AEAb and ATEAb activity in mouse plasma, and elastin-derived peptides (EDP) in sera of ICR mice at 3 and 9 months of age were tested by competitive ELISA. Results: The specificity of AEAb and ATEAb in mouse plasma was confirmed by the competitive investigations. The levels of AEAb in the plasma of SAMR1 and SAMP8 were increased compared to the levels measured in ICR on the matched ages (p < 0.001). Age-related increase of the levels of AEAb and ATEAb was established in the 3 strains (p < 0.001). Significantly higher levels of AEAb were established in female 9-month-old mice compared to males in all strains. The ATEAb:AEAb ratio was significantly lower in the SAM compared to the ICR strain. Positive correlation was established between the levels of serum AEAb and EDP in mouse sera of ICR mice. Conclusion: Variations with age in the plasma levels of AEAb and ATEAb were established in SAM compared with ICR, and in SAMP8 compared with SAMR1. Our findings suggest that increased anti-elastin IgG autoantibodies could be used as a marker of aging in SAM and possibly contribute to the processes of aging. The absence of a difference between SAMP8 and SAMR1 regarding the ATEAb:AEAb ratio raises the question if SAMR1 are an appropriate control of SAMP8 in terms of the senescence of the elastic tissues.

Anti-Tissue Antibodies Are Related to Lung Function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…It is well known that autoantibody titers increase with age and with smoking (29,35). In fact, antielastin antibodies have been considered a marker of aging in animal models (36). Yet, we think that this does not invalidate our results because FEV 1 and DL CO were expressed as percentage of the reference value and were, therefore, age-corrected, and smoking status was included in the multivariate analysis specifically.…”

Circulating Anti-Elastin Antibody Levels and Arterial Disease Characteristics: Associations with Arterial Stiffness and Atherosclerosis

“…A prior study demonstrated that female mice have higher anti-elastin antibody levels than males, which is consistent with our data. 18 The authors suggested that reproductive organ remodeling in female mice may be the cause of this finding, although this does not sound plausible in our subjects. Previous studies on the association between diabetes mellitus and antibody levels did not show consistent results.…”

Minoxidil versus placebo in the treatment of arterial wall hypertrophy in children with Williams Beuren Syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

“…Surprisingly, our results indicate that minoxidil tend to slightly increase IMT, and decrease distensibility. Exploring the renin angiotensin system [14], elastin gene transcription and its signaling pathway [45] and potential new biomarkers [47], we are hopeful to better explain how minoxidil influences biologically the elastogenesis in patients with WBS. Differences between groups in vessel wall thickening of 0.02 mm was very small.…”