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Is poor early growth related to adult immune aging? A follow‐up study
Author(s) -
Clark George A.,
Aldwin Carolyn M.,
Hall Nicholas R.,
Spiro Avron,
Goldstein Alan
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.1310010313
Subject(s) - hum , thymic involution , immune system , sitting , medicine , endocrinology , biology , physiology , immunology , t cell , pathology , art , performance art , art history
Thymosin alpha 1 (TSN‐α 1 ) is produced by the thymus gland, regulates immune function, and measures thymic involution. Poor early growth permanetly stunts size and function in features ceasing growth early, such as vertebral neural canals (VNCs) and the thymus gland (resulting in decreased TSN‐α 1 ). The purpose of this study was to follow‐up prior research (Clark et al.: Hum. Biol. 60: 435–451, 1988) demonstrating that healthy adults (n = 16) with lower levels of TSN‐α 1 had significantly smaller VNCs and greater sitting height. If true, these relationships should still exist later in time. Consequently, TSN‐α 1 was remeasured in 13 of the original men 2.5 years later. Bivariate analyses showed that lower TSN‐α 1 serum levels still tended to correlate with smaller VNCs (r = .52; P = .065). These result were similar to the original study (VNCs r= .47; P < .05). In a stepwise regression, age weight, height, sitting height, fasting cortisol, and VNC were used to predict fasting TSN‐α 1 . As in the first study, only sitting height and VNC entered the equation. Together, they explained 57% of the variation ( P = .01), markedly similar to the 54% ( P < .05) explained by the first study. Thus, even though this was a small sample, this stability over time strengthens the hypothesis that poor early growth permanently lowers TSN‐α 1 . Nonetheless, these studies are pilot studies and should still be viewed with caution.