Chemokines, sTNF-Rs and sCD30 serum levels in healthy aged people and centenarians

Several lines of evidence point to a profound remodelling of the cytokine n etwork in healthy elderly subjects, with decreased type-1 cytokine producti on (IL 2) and a shift to type 0 and 2. We have also observed an increase of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha) in vitro, and an increas e of circulating stem cell factor in vivo. In this setting, we studied chan ges of chemokines (MCP-I and RANTES) with aging, as well as other molecules , namely, sTNF-RI and sTNF-RII, and the soluble form of the CD30 molecule ( sCD30), involved in the pro- and antiinflammatory cytokine balance. The sub jects enrolled in the study belonged to three different selected healthy gr oups of young, aged and centenarians. The presence of rheumatoid factor (RF ) and antinuclear antibodies (ANA) was simultaneously assessed. The results show that MCP-1 serum levels were higher in the healthy aged and lowest in the young, while RANTES increased exclusively in centenarians. Only centen arians had autoantibodies (ANA and RF). sTNF-RI and sTNF-RII were significa ntly elevated in healthy old subjects compared to the young, and even highe r in selected centenarians compared to the other age groups, sCD30 serum le vels were significantly raised in centenarians compared to the young, despi te absence of circulating CD30 + cells in the peripheral blood of the whole study population. No relationship among serum values of these different me mbers of the TNF-R family was found, despite a strong correlation for sTNF- RI and sTNF-RII in all groups. We hypothesize that the increased chemokine levels in aged people, and raised sCD30 levels in centenarians, may reflect a general shift towards type 0/2 cytokines in normal aging, which may be r esponsible, at least in part, for the appearance of circulating autoantibod ies without definite clinical consequences at advanced age. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.