Kiecolt-Glaser Janice K, Preacher Kristopher J, MacCallum Robert C, Atkinson Cathie, Malarkey William B, Glaser Ronald
Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Jul 22;100(15):9090-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1531903100. Epub 2003 Jul 2.
Overproduction of IL-6, a proinflammatory cytokine, is associated with a spectrum of age-related conditions including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, periodontal disease, frailty, and functional decline. To describe the pattern of change in IL-6 over 6 years among older adults undergoing a chronic stressor, this longitudinal community study assessed the relationship between chronic stress and IL-6 production in 119 men and women who were caregiving for a spouse with dementia and 106 noncaregivers, with a mean age at study entry of 70.58 (SD = 8.03) for the full sample. On entry into this portion of the longitudinal study, 28 of the caregivers' spouses had already died, and an additional 50 of the 119 spouses died during the 6 years of this study. Levels of IL-6 and health behaviors associated with IL-6 were measured across 6 years. Caregivers' average rate of increase in IL-6 was about four times as large as that of noncaregivers. Moreover, the mean annual changes in IL-6 among former caregivers did not differ from that of current caregivers even several years after the death of the impaired spouse. There were no systematic group differences in chronic health problems, medications, or health-relevant behaviors that might have accounted for caregivers' steeper IL-6 slope. These data provide evidence of a key mechanism through which chronic stressors may accelerate risk of a host of age-related diseases by prematurely aging the immune response.
促炎细胞因子白细胞介素-6（IL-6）的过度产生与一系列与年龄相关的疾病有关，包括心血管疾病、骨质疏松症、关节炎、2型糖尿病、某些癌症、牙周病、身体虚弱和功能衰退。为了描述经历慢性应激源的老年人在6年中IL-6的变化模式，这项纵向社区研究评估了119名照顾痴呆配偶的男性和女性与106名非照顾者之间慢性应激与IL-6产生的关系，整个样本在研究开始时的平均年龄为70.58岁（标准差 = 8.03）。在进入纵向研究的这一部分时，28名照顾者的配偶已经去世，在这项研究的6年中，119名配偶中的另外50名也去世了。在6年期间测量了IL-6水平以及与IL-6相关的健康行为。照顾者IL-6的平均增加率约为非照顾者的四倍。此外，即使在受损配偶去世几年后，前照顾者中IL-6的年平均变化与当前照顾者也没有差异。在慢性健康问题、药物治疗或与健康相关的行为方面，没有系统的组间差异可以解释照顾者IL-6斜率更陡的情况。这些数据提供了一个关键机制的证据，通过该机制，慢性应激源可能通过使免疫反应过早老化来加速许多与年龄相关疾病的风险。
