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Relationship between plasma ghrelin, insulin, leptin, interleukin 6, adiponectin, testosterone and longevity in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

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Abstract

Background and aims: Caloric restriction (CR) is the most robust and reproducible intervention for slowing aging, and maintaining health and vitality in animals. Previous studies found that CR is associated with changes in specific biomarkers in monkeys that were also associated with reduced risk of mortality in healthy men. In this study we examine the association between other potential biomarkers related to CR and extended lifespan in healthy humans. Methods: Based on the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, “long-lived” participants who survived to at least 90 years of age (n=41, cases) were compared with “short-lived” participants who died between 72–76 yrs of age (n=31, controls) in the nested case control study. Circulating levels of ghrelin, insulin, leptin, interleukin 6, adiponectin and testosterone were measured from samples collected between the ages 58 to 70 yrs. Baseline differences between groups were examined with t-test or Wilcoxon test, and mixed effects general linear model was used for a logistic model to differentiate the two groups with multiple measurements on some subjects. Results: At the time of biomarkers evaluation (58–70 yrs), none of the single biomarker levels was significantly different between the two groups. However, after combining information from multiple biomarkers by adding the z-transformed values, the global score differentiated the long- and short-lived participants (p=0.05). Conclusions: In their sixties, long-lived and short-lived individuals do not differ in biomarkers that have been associated with CR in animals. However, difference between the groups was only obtained when multiple biomarker dysregulation was considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute on Aging, Clinical Research Branch, Longitudinal Studies Section, Harbor Hospital, 5th Floor, 3001 S. Hanover Street, Baltimore, MD, 21225, USA

    Sari Stenholm, E. Jeffrey Metter & Luigi Ferrucci MD, PhD

  2. National Institute for Health and Welfare, Turku, Finland

    Sari Stenholm

  3. GeroScience, Inc., Pylesville, MD, USA

    George S. Roth

  4. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Nutritional Neuroscience and Aging Laboratory, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Donald K. Ingram

  5. Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, NIA Primate Aging Studies, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Julie A. Mattison

  6. Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Dennis D. Taub

Authors
  1. Sari Stenholm
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  2. E. Jeffrey Metter
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  3. George S. Roth
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  4. Donald K. Ingram
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  5. Julie A. Mattison
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  6. Dennis D. Taub
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  7. Luigi Ferrucci MD, PhD
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Stenholm, S., Metter, E.J., Roth, G.S. et al. Relationship between plasma ghrelin, insulin, leptin, interleukin 6, adiponectin, testosterone and longevity in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Aging Clin Exp Res 23, 153–158 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03351078

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03351078

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