Citocinas en la salud del adulto mayor

Abstract

Aging is associated with increased catabolic cytokine levels and a decline in humoral immunity. These cytokines play an important role in the health of the elderly, regulating the immune response to stressful stimuli both physical and psychological. A total of 56 papers, published between 1998 and 2015, written either in English or Spanish, were examined. The papers were searched for in EBSCO, Access Medicine, PubMed, MedlinePlus, Elsevier, Llilacs, Cochrane, Scielo and Bireme databases. This review provided an overview of cytokines and their functioning in the elderly. The most noteworthy finding of this review was an impairment of the immune system with decreased immunity, both innate and acquired, in the inflammatory response, thus increasing the incidence of infections and, in turn, increasing the risk factors which promote frailty, hospitalizations and chronic and degenerative diseases. On the other hand, exercising and adopting a proper diet positively affect cytokine production, improving physical performance and strengthening the immune system. Clarifying the ability of cytokines to influence health status as well as the possible mechanisms underlying medical conditions, opens a wide range of potential pharmacological and behavioral objectives that can be aimed for in order to develop new treatments and prevention strategies allowing to enhance life quality of the elderly.