Effect of age on atherogenicity of LDL and inflammatory markers in healthy women

Background and aimSince using LDL level alone is insufficient as a method to identify individuals with incident coronary artery disease (CAD), other factors may be implicated in the pathogenesis of CAD. Additionally, controversy still remains regarding whether there is an age-related increase in circulating cytokines in healthy individuals. We investigated the influence of age on atherogenicity of LDL and inflammatory markers in healthy women.Methods and resultsTwo thousand nine hundred forty four healthy women form 30–79 years old (23.3 ± 0.05 kg/m2) were categorized into 5 age groups: 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69 and 70–79 years. BMI, smoking, drinking, and metabolic syndrome prevalence adjusted mean values of total-cholesterol progressively increased from the group age 30–39 years to the group age 40–49 and 50–59 years and thereafter decreased in the group age 60–69 and 70–79 years. Serum concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were higher in women aged 60–79 years than women aged 30–59 years. Plasma ox-LDL levels increased in the group age 50–59 years compared with the group age 30–39 and 40–49 years and further increased in the group age 60–69 and 70–79 years. Mean values of LDL particle size were smaller in women aged 60–79 years than those in women aged 30–59 years. After adjustment for BMI, smoking, drinking, and metabolic syndrome status, age was positively correlated with LDL-cholesterol (r = 0.095, P < 0.001), oxidized LDL (r = 0.305, P < 0.001), hs-CRP (r = 0.150, P < 0.001), TNF-α (r = 0.171, P < 0.001) and IL-6 (r = 0.294, P < 0.001) and negatively with LDL particle size (r = −0.239, P < 0.001).ConclusionOur results indicate that LDL atherogenicity and inflammatory mediators can be better markers of CAD risk than known risk factors such as elevated concentrations of total- and LDL-cholesterol, decreased HDL-cholesterol levels and smoking in old healthy women.