AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN CO-MORBIDITY NUMBER, FUNDUS ATHEROSCLEROSIS LEVEL AND THE SERUM VALUES OF GSH-PX, HS-CRP AND HDL-C IN ELDERLY CHINESE PATIENTS

Background: The ApoE genotype, atherosclerosis, status of inflammation, oxidative stress and co-morbidity may be detrimental to the elderly. Objectives: To identify biomarkers of aging. Setting: All subjects were Chinese elderly in Shanghai. Subjects: 549 outpatients (489 male, 60 female), divided into ≤74 year-old, 75-84 year-old and the oldest old (≥85 year-old ) groups. Methods: A univariate analysis was used to investigate 5 age-related categorical variables and 26 continuous variables. The related variables were used to find the independent biomarkers of aging by Multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: The serum values of Glutathione peroxidase, HDL-C and C reactive protein, the number of co-morbidities and fundus atherosclerosis level were the main independent age-associated factors that influenced aging. Compared with ≥85 year-old individuals, ≤74 year-old individuals had fewer co-morbidities [OR, 0.757 (95% CI, 0.636, 0.902)], lower grades of fundus atherosclerosis [Grade 0: OR, 26.059 (95% CI, 4.705, 144.324)] and [Grade I: OR, 8.539 (95% CI, 3.555, 20.513)] and lower serum levels of HDL-C [OR, 0.127 (95% CI, 0.037, 0.433)]. However, 75-84 year-old patients had significantly lower plasma levels of GSH-px [OR, 0.986, (95% CI, 0.972, 1.00)], HDL-C [OR, 0.158 (95% CI, 0.054, 0.457)] and HsCRP [Grade I: OR, 8.516 (95% CI,1.630, 44.484)], [Grade II: OR,7.699 (95% CI,1.544, 38.388)] and [Grade III: OR,7.251 (95% CI,1.346, 39.070)]. Conclusion: The oldest old patients had significantly high anti-oxidant capability and serum HDL-C level. However, these patients also had a significantly high systemic inflammation, number of co-morbidities and grades of fundus atherosclerosis.