Selenium status, fatty acids, vitamins A and E, and aging: the Nove Study

Abstract

To investigate the relationships between aging and selenium status, vitamins A and E, and plasma and erythrocyte fatty acids, we studied 105 healthy subjects (53 women, 52 men) living in Nove, a village near Vicenza (Veneto Region, northern Italy). The subjects were distributed equally for age and sex into four groups: group 1, 20-39 y; group 2, 40-59 y; group 3, 60-75 y; and group 4, > 75 y. A careful selection of subjects to exclude those with chronic or acute diseases was obtained with the collaboration of the three general practitioners operating in Nove. Aging was associated with a progressive decrease in selenium status and in the ratio of plasma and erythrocyte polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids (P:S). Stepwise multiple linear analysis revealed age, vitamin A, and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) as useful predictors of a substantial proportion of the selenium variability (R = 0.618, R2 = 0.382; P < 0.001) and age and erythrocyte oleic acid as predictors of erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase variability (R = 0.413, R2 = 0.17; P < 0.001).

Impairment of Lipid Metabolism Due to Deficiency of Pyridoxal-5-phosphate and/or Activated Immune system: its Interpretation

“…Moreover, the deviations in phospholipids observed when kynurenine, neopterin or noradrenalin were added to the incubation medium for phospholipid biosynthesis in vitro, suggest that phospholipids can partly loose their possibility to keep cholesterol in the state of solution (8,9) when these metabolites are present in excess . Our results of lipid metabolism in cardiovascular patients with P-5-P-deficiency as well as data of literature (36)(37)(38)(39)58) further supports this conclusion.…”

“…Both, cell cycle regulation and contact inhibition of cells, are shown to be linked with membrane fluidity (34,35). The increased cholesterol concenn'ations in membranes and decreased unsaturated fatty acid contents of membrane phospholipids have been observed in patients with essential hypertension, myocardial infarction as well as at ageing (36)(37)(38)(39). Moreover, such diseases as essential hypertension (40), brady arrhythmias (41), cardiomyopathy (42, 43, 44) and atherosclerosis (45,46) as well as aging are accompanied with elevated kynurenine and lor neopterin concentrations in the blood.…”

Does selenium supplementation affect thyroid function? Results from a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial in a Danish population

“…The median overall baseline plasma selenium concentration of 85 ng/g can be converted to 87.3 mg/l by multiplying with 1.027 (the density of plasma). The slightly lower selenium status in our study population, compared with mean serum concentrations found in two previous Danish investigations, 98.7 mg/l (10) and 94 mg/l (22), can at least partly be explained by declining selenium status with age above 60 years (23,24). Plasma selenium concentrations, as expected, increased dose dependently, with a large increase from baseline to 6-month measurements, and a further small increase from 6 months to 5 years.…”

Radicais livres: conceitos, doenças relacionadas, sistema de defesa e estresse oxidativo

“…Estas observações sugerem que a doença ou o tratamento podem estimular o sistema antioxidante eritrocitário em idosos 26 . Outro estudo que relacionou envelhecimento com o sistema de defesa em eritrócitos mostrou que não há consumo de vitamina A e E com o aumento da idade de indivíduos saudá-veis 53 . Entretanto, pode haver diminuição do nível muscular de vitamina E após exercício físico em idosos 54 .…”