The Immune Risk Phenotype and IL-6 among Nonagenarians and Associations with Morbidity and Mortality : Findings from the Swedish NONA Immune Longitudinal Study

• In this NONA immune longitudinal study, we examine 4-year mortality in relation to a set of laboratory parameters, morbidity and cause of death in a population-based sample of oldest-old individuals (n=138). Four groups were constructed based on levels for the CD4/CD8 ratio (above or below one = IRP, immune risk phenotype group) and levels for IL-6 (below or above the median 3.15 pg/mL). 4-year mortality was higher in the “IRP” group (73 %), the “IL-6” group (64 %), and the “Double risk group” (82 %) compared with the “No risk” group (29 %; p-values between .005 and .000). Cognitive dysfunction and dementia were more common in the two groups with elevated IL-6 levels (p-values between .014 and .001), whereas cardiovascular disease tended (p = .081) to be associated with both “IRP” and “IL-6” groups. The most common cause of death was related to cardio- and cerebrovascular disease (59 %,), followed by infection in 15 % of the cases and cancer in 7 %. Despite their strong associations with 4-year mortality, neither IRP nor IL-6 could be linked to any specific cause of death, possibly because both IRP and IL-6 are multi-factorial risk factors, being associated with several different diseases and mechanisms which cause death.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Immunologi inom det medicinska området (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Immunology in the medical area (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

survival

mortality

CMV

cytomegalovirus

CD8

T-cells

inflammation

immuner risk phenotype

IRP

cause of death

Clinical immunology

Klinisk immunologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)