A Cardiovascular Biomarker and Plasma Albumin Predict the Chance of Living to Supercentenarian Ages
July 31, 2020 Keio University
Scientists have identified that cardiovascular biomarker, NT-proBNP, is a strong predictor of survival to the highest age. They showed that low NT-proBNP is more relevant for exceptional survival beyond age 105 than inflammation, organ reserves, and lipid and glucose metabolism.
For the first time, a team of experts has explored which of the molecular markers that represent various biological processes may contribute to survival to the highest ages, namely 110 years of age. The team comprised researchers from the Keio University School of Medicine Center for Supercentenarian Medical Research (Director & Professor: Hideyuki Okano, http://www.keio-centenarian.com/english), the Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medical Sciences Department of Molecular Genetics (Professor Yuichi Oike), and the Gifu Pharmaceutical University Department of Biomedical Pharmaceutics, Laboratory of Clinical Pharmaceutics (Professor Tetsuo Adachi).
The team found that NT-proBNP is strongly associated with life expectancy, especially in those aged 105 or older, and that the lower the NT-proBNP in one’s blood, the higher the chance that individual has of living until the age of 110 or beyond. In contrast, a decrease in plasma albumin, a biomarker for nutrition, and an important predictor of life expectancy in the elderly, was associated with all-cause mortality across all age groups.
This study has revealed some of the biological characteristics of the oldest old approaching the current limit of the human lifespan and may contribute to future research for the prevention and delay of cardiovascular disease, the risk for which increases as society continues to age.
The results of this study were published online on July 30 in Nature Communications, an open access journal supported by Springer Nature.
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