Moreno Manuel A, Vidal-Alaball Josep, Saez Marc, Barceló Maria A
Research Group On Statistics, Econometrics and Health (GRECS), University of Girona, Carrer de La Universitat de Girona 10, Campus de Montilivi, 17003, Girona, Spain.
Institut Català de La Salut. Gerència d'Atenció Primària I a La Comunitat de La Catalunya Central, Unitat de Recerca I Innovació, 08242, Manresa, Spain.
Biogerontology. 2025 May 26;26(3):115. doi: 10.1007/s10522-025-10258-3.
The global increase in life expectancy has sparked growing interest in the factors that contribute to exceptional longevity. Between 1990 and 2015, the number of centenarians worldwide more than quadrupled. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between blood-based biomarkers and the likelihood of reaching 100 years of age in Catalonia (2015-2022), and to examine how biomarker variations during COVID-19 affected longevity. Using a retrospective cohort study based on primary care electronic health records from Catalonia, we compared centenarians with individuals aged 92 or older who died before reaching 100 years of age. We analysed anaemia, cholesterol, glycemia, kidney function, and liver function biomarkers. We employed multiple strategies to control for confounding including matching without replacement, adjusting for both observed confounders at both the individual and contextual level, and unobserved confounders, in particular spatial dependence. Our findings reveal that centenarians exhibit higher rates of chronic conditions, greater socioeconomic disadvantage, and increased neighbourhood inequality in urban areas. Biologically, longevity was linked to intermediate levels of ferritin and cholesterol, alongside lower glucose, creatinine, and uric acid levels. Glycaemic balance, indicated by HbA1c and fasting glucose, emerged as a key factor in survival to extreme old age. Additionally, biomarker improvements during the pandemic correlated with an increased likelihood of reaching centenarian age. These results emphasize the complex interplay between biological, behavioural, and contextual factors in determining longevity. While biomarkers provide valuable insights, they are insufficient indicators of healthy ageing. Future research should integrate multiple dimensions, among them, environmental, and social determinants for uncovering the mechanisms of longevity.
全球预期寿命的增加引发了人们对促成超长寿命因素的日益浓厚兴趣。1990年至2015年间，全球百岁老人数量增长了四倍多。本研究旨在分析加泰罗尼亚地区（2015 - 2022年）血液生物标志物与活到100岁可能性之间的关系，并研究新冠疫情期间生物标志物的变化如何影响寿命。我们基于加泰罗尼亚地区初级保健电子健康记录进行了一项回顾性队列研究，将百岁老人与活到92岁但未活到100岁就去世的个体进行了比较。我们分析了贫血、胆固醇、血糖、肾功能和肝功能生物标志物。我们采用了多种策略来控制混杂因素，包括无放回匹配、在个体和背景层面调整观察到的混杂因素以及未观察到的混杂因素，特别是空间依赖性。我们的研究结果表明，百岁老人患慢性病的比例更高，社会经济劣势更大，城市地区邻里不平等加剧。从生物学角度来看，长寿与铁蛋白和胆固醇的中等水平相关，同时血糖、肌酐和尿酸水平较低。糖化血红蛋白（HbA1c）和空腹血糖所表明的血糖平衡是活到极高龄的关键因素。此外，疫情期间生物标志物的改善与活到百岁的可能性增加相关。这些结果强调了生物学、行为和背景因素在决定寿命方面的复杂相互作用。虽然生物标志物提供了有价值的见解，但它们并不是健康衰老的充分指标。未来的研究应整合多个维度，其中包括环境和社会决定因素，以揭示长寿的机制。
