UCLA

Systemic inflammation is associated with increasing age. Yet, there are limited data about the association between age and systemic inflammation within older adults, and whether older age is also associated with cellular and nuclear signaling markers of inflammation. In community-dwelling older adults (N = 262, 60-88 years), systemic levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II; levels of toll-like receptor-4-stimulated monocytic production of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor α; and resting nuclear levels of activated nuclear factor kappa B and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT1, STAT3, STAT5) were evaluated. Adjusting for demographic and clinical factors, multivariate linear regression tested the association between age and each inflammatory marker. Age was positively associated with increased levels of interleukin-6 and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II (p's < .05) and with increases in STAT1, STAT3, and STAT5 activation (p's < .05). However, no relationship was found between age and C-reactive protein, toll-like receptor-4-stimulated interleukin-6/tumor necrosis factor alpha α production, or nuclear factor kappa B. Within a community-dwelling sample of older adults, older age is associated with increases in STAT activation, along with increases of systemic inflammatory cytokines. In older adults, heterogeneity in age-related increases in inflammatory disease risk may be related to individual variability in inflammation.