SERUM LEVELS OF TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA, INTERLEUKIN-1 ALPHA AND BETA IN HEALTHY ELDERLY SUBJECTS

To determine the age-related changes in monokine secretion, the serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1-alpha) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1-beta) were measured in 31 young healthy subjects (21-35 years old) and 19 healthy elderly subjects (65-83 years old). There were no differences between the two groups with respect to serum concentrations of these cytokines. We also measured in a subgroup of young (n = 8-11) and elderly (n = 8-10) subjects the in vitro secretion of TNF and IL-1-beta in response to adding to the medium lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 2 ng/ml), interferon gamma (50 U/ml) or advanced glycosylation endproduct of bovine serum albumin (250 ug/ml). Only LPS-stimulated IL-1-beta production was significantly reduced in elderly subjects (456.7 +/- 229.9 vs 1118.8 +/- 494.8 pg/ml). It is concluded that with the possible exception of LPS-stimulated IL-1-beta production, monokine secretion measured in this study is well preserved in elderly subjects.