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Thymic function failure and C-reactive protein levels are independent predictors of all-cause mortality in healthy elderly humans

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Abstract

Relationship between thymic function and elderly survival has been suspected, despite the fact that formal proof is elusive due to technical limitations of thymic function-related markers. The newly described sj/β-TREC ratio allows now, by overcoming these limitations, an accurate measurement of thymic output in elderly humans. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the impact of thymic function and inflammatory markers on healthy elderly human survival. Healthy volunteers (n = 151), aged over 65, were asked to participate (CARRERITAS cohort). Subjects were excluded if diagnosed of dementia or, during the last 6 months, had clinical data of infection, hospital admission, antitumor therapy, or any treatment that could influence the immune status. Thymic function (sj/β-TREC ratio), CD4:CD8 T cell ratio, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and neutrophilia were determined from basal samples. All basal variables and age were associated with 2-year all-cause mortality. Multivariate analysis showed that only thymic function and C-reactive protein were independently associated with time to death. In conclusion, we show, for the first time, the direct role of thymic function in human survival. C-reactive protein raise is also a marker of mortality in the healthy elderly, in a thymic-independent way.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to express their most sincere thanks to all volunteers of the town of Pilas and especially to the board of the CARRERITAS association. It is after them that this cohort has been named. Luis Quintero has been a key man in this project; without his unselfish help this project could not be performed. We are also thankful to staff and patients of the involved nursing homes (Bormujos, Carrion, Pilas, and Aznalcollar). We also acknowledge Juan Manuel Praena for his helpful statistical analysis tips. SFM and ERM have grants from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (CD10/00382 and CP08/00172, respectively). MCRS was supported by a Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria grant PI06/0915. This study has been supported by Redes Temáticas de Investigación en SIDA (ISCIII RETIC RD06/0006/0021 and RD06/0006/0035), Proyecto de Excelencia, Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa (P11-CTS-06313) and Consejería Andaluza de Salud (PI-0278-2010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Immuno-Biology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain

    Sara Ferrando-Martínez & Ma Ángeles Muñoz-Fernández

  2. Laboratory of Immunovirology, Infectious Diseases Service, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital (HUVR)/Biomedicine Institute of Seville (IBiS), Avda. Manuel Siurot s/n–Edificio IBIS, Lab # 211, 41013, Sevilla, Spain

    Sara Ferrando-Martínez, María Concepción Romero-Sánchez, Ezequiel Ruiz-Mateos & Manuel Leal

  3. Department of Cellular Immunology, IMIBIC–Reina Sofía University Hospital, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain

    Rafael Solana

  4. Internal Medicine Service, San Juan de Dios Hospital, Bormujos, Spain

    Juan Delgado & Rafael de la Rosa

Authors
  1. Sara Ferrando-Martínez
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  2. María Concepción Romero-Sánchez
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  3. Rafael Solana
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  4. Juan Delgado
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  5. Rafael de la Rosa
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  6. Ma Ángeles Muñoz-Fernández
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  7. Ezequiel Ruiz-Mateos
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  8. Manuel Leal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Ferrando-Martínez.

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Ferrando-Martínez, S., Romero-Sánchez, M.C., Solana, R. et al. Thymic function failure and C-reactive protein levels are independent predictors of all-cause mortality in healthy elderly humans. AGE 35, 251–259 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-011-9341-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-011-9341-2

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