Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, UK.
Immun Ageing. 2013 Aug 13;10(1):33. doi: 10.1186/1742-4933-10-33.
Sarcopenia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults, with immunosenescence and inflammation being possible underlying mechanisms. We investigated the relationship between latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, Interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels, muscle size and strength in a group of healthy older community-dwelling people.
Participants were healthy volunteers from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 study. Participants had IL-6 level and CMV antibody titre measured at age 70 years and grip strength and a volumetric T1-weighted MRI brain scan (allowing measurement of neck muscle cross-sectional area (CSA)) at age 73. Markers of childhood deprivation were adjusted for in the analysis due to correlations between childhood deprivation and latent CMV infection.
866 participants were studied; 448 men (mean age 72.48 years, sd 0.70) and 418 women (mean age 72.51 years, sd 0.72). In men, CMV seropositivity was associated with smaller neck muscle CSA (p = 0.03, partial eta squared = 0.01), even after adjustment for IL-6 levels. Neck muscle CSA was not associated with CMV seropositivity in women, or CMV antibody titre or IL-6 level in either sex. Grip strength associated negatively with IL-6 level (right grip strength p<0.00001, partial eta squared 0.032 and left grip strength p<0.00001, partial eta squared 0.027) with or without adjustment for CMV serostatus or antibody titre. CMV status and antibody titre were not significantly associated with grip strength in either hand.
These findings support the hypothesis that there is a relationship between markers of immunosenescence (i.e. CMV serostatus and IL6 level) and low muscle mass and strength and longitudinal studies in older cohorts are now required to investigate these relationships further.
肌少症是老年人发病率和死亡率的一个重要原因，免疫衰老和炎症可能是其潜在机制。我们研究了一组健康的老年社区居民中潜伏性巨细胞病毒（CMV）感染、白细胞介素 6（IL-6）水平、肌肉大小和力量之间的关系。
参与者为来自洛锡安出生队列 1936 研究的健康志愿者。参与者在 70 岁时测量了 IL-6 水平和 CMV 抗体滴度，在 73 岁时测量了握力和容积 T1 加权 MRI 脑扫描（允许测量颈部肌肉横截面积（CSA））。由于儿童期剥夺与潜伏性 CMV 感染之间存在相关性，因此在分析中调整了儿童期剥夺的标志物。
研究了 866 名参与者；448 名男性（平均年龄 72.48 岁，标准差 0.70）和 418 名女性（平均年龄 72.51 岁，标准差 0.72）。在男性中，CMV 血清阳性与较小的颈部肌肉 CSA 相关（p=0.03，偏 eta 平方=0.01），即使调整了 IL-6 水平也是如此。在女性中，颈部肌肉 CSA 与 CMV 血清阳性、CMV 抗体滴度或两性 IL-6 水平均无关联。握力与 IL-6 水平呈负相关（右侧握力 p<0.00001，偏 eta 平方 0.032，左侧握力 p<0.00001，偏 eta 平方 0.027），无论是否调整 CMV 血清状态或抗体滴度。CMV 状态和抗体滴度与双手握力均无显著关联。
这些发现支持这样一种假设，即免疫衰老标志物（即 CMV 血清状态和 IL-6 水平）与低肌肉质量和力量之间存在关系，现在需要对老年队列进行纵向研究以进一步研究这些关系。
