OBESITY IS A RISK FACTOR FOR DETERIORATING CELLULAR IMMUNE FUNCTIONS DECREASED WITH AGING

This study was performed to determine the effect of obesity on cellula r immune functions in the aged. Subjects were healthy men (n = 111) an d women (n = 126) living in Tokushima prefecture and randomly sampled (range 30-69 years old). Although natural killer cell (NK) activity wa s almost similar in both men and women at all ages, proliferation of p eripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and co ncanavalin A (ConA) showed a downward trend with advancing age. The av erage of body mass index (BMI) as an index of obesity at each age was not significantly different in both men and women. Blood glucose level s signficantly increased with advancing age in both men and women. Bot h NK activity and proliferation with PHA of PBL were significantly hig her in both men and women with high BMI (> 30) compared to the subject s with normal BMI (20-25), whereas at 60-69 years old they were signif icantly decreased in high BMI group compared to those of normal BMI gr oup. These results suggest that obesity aggravates cellular immune fun ctions decreased with aging.