BELFAST nonagenarians: nature or nurture? Immunological, cardiovascular and genetic factors

Abstract

Nonagenarians are the fastest growing sector of populations across Western European and the developed world. They are some of the oldest members of our societies and survivors of their generation and may help us understand how to age not only longer, but better.The Belfast Longevity Group enlisted the help of 500 community-living, mobile, mentally competent, 'elite' nonagenarians, as part of an ongoing study of ageing. We assessed some immunological, cardiovascular, nutritional and genetic factors and some aspects of their interaction in this group of 'oldest old'.Here we present some of the evidence related to genetic and nutritional factors which seem to be important for good quality ageing in nonagenarians from the Belfast Elderly Longitudinal Free-living Ageing STudy (BELFAST).

Does aging affect the immune status? A comparative analysis in 300 healthy volunteers from France, Austria and Spain

“…Although the alterations of NK cells and other innate immune cells with aging are generally less marked than those seen with T cells [16,54], we observed that in our subjects, a greater correlation with age was found for NK cells (r 2  = +0.21, p = 0.0002) than for CD4/CD8 ratio (r 2  = +0.14, p = 0.01). A similar positive correlation between age and CD4/CD8 ratio in Irish individuals was reported by Rea et al [4]. Moreover, we observed a shift from a predominance of naïve T cells towards T cells expressing memory phenotypes from the youngest to the oldest age groups, as previously reported [12,55].…”

Genes and life-style factors in BELFAST nonagenarians: Nature, Nurture and Narrative

“…Subjects willing to enrol, were community-living, mobile, and mentally competent (mini mental score examination > 26/30), (Folstein et al 1975 ) and gave written consent. Briefly, subjects gave blood samples for DNA and other laboratory variables, responded to nutrition, life style and medical history questionnaires, blood pressure and anthropometric measurements (Rea et al 2009 ) and provided self-directed narrative life-stories (Ganzevoort and Bouwer 2007 ) together with structured questions (Rea and Rea 2011 ; Rea Maeve 2013 ). Ethical permission for the Belfast Elderly Longitudinal Free-Living Ageing STudy (BELFAST) studies was given by Research Ethics Committee Northern Ireland (ORECNI), 08/NIR03/42 and by The Queens University Belfast.…”

Mitochondrial J haplogroup is associated with lower blood pressure and anti-oxidant status: findings in octo/nonagenarians from the BELFAST Study

“…However, 90 year olds are both the fastest growing sector of present day populations and the group about whom we know relatively little medically, socially and economically. It can be argued that they are of special interest because of their extreme age and because in this study they were well categorised by Senieur status (Rea et al 2009; Rea 2010; Lighthart et al 1984). Studies in this age group are extremely challenging because of perceived or real frailty and the understandable concern of the subjects themselves, relatives, researchers and Ethical Committees not to exploit, tire or over-ride the autonomy of the subject group (Samelson et al 2008).…”

“…Elderly subjects were a consecutive mid-study cohort enlisted from the BELFAST study, aged 80–100 years of age (Rea 2010; Rea et al 2009), who met SENIEUR protocol (Ligthart et al 1984). At recruitment, all subjects were mentally alert (Folstein >25/30), (Folstein and Folstein et al 1975), apparently well and living in the community.…”