Trace element status and fatty acids metabolism during healthy ageing: An example of a population from the Tunisian eastern coast

Metals in plasma of nonagenarians and centenarians living in a key area of longevity

“…In Italian healthy people aged 20 years to 84 years, an interval (P25-P75 percentiles) of serum Cu of 808-1073 ng/ml was reported (Alimonti et al, 2007) The GM levels in our group was well within normal ranges so aging seemed not to modify Cu metabolism significantly in the subjects and dietary Cu intakes seemed to be adequate. Similar unchanged levels with aging were observed by Sfar et al (2012) that reported levels of 20.01 μmol/l in subjects aged 75-85 years and 19.72 μmol/l in younger subjects (55-64 years). Other studies reported the Cu contents increased with age; in healthy elderly sampled in Italy the concentration of blood Cu (1175 ng/ml) was higher than in the younger (1025 ng/m) (Del Corso et al, 2000); in longevity areas in China higher plasmatic Cu was found in centenarians (21.07 μmol/l) than in people aged 90 years and over (18.81 μmol/l) (Xu et al, 2010).…”

“…3). Similar higher Cu in females than in males was previously reported in human fluids because this metal is closely related to estrogen metabolism (Olsen et al, 2012;Rambousková et al, 2013;Sfar et al, 2012). Among the other factors that can influence circulating Cu concentrations, alcohol use and hypertension were significantly associated to Cu content (see Fig.…”

“…Many studies reported the same observation of unaltered values of Mg during aging (Davidovic et al, 2004;Del Corso et al, 2000;Mataix et al, 2006). In the study of Sfar et al (2012) Mg mean concentrations did not show any significant variation relatively to age (30-60 years, 20.51 μg/ml; 65-85 years: 20.86 μg/ml). The normal range of plasma Mg concentration was reported to be within 18.2 μg/ml and 26.7 μg/ml (Weisinger and Bellorin-Font, 1998).…”

“…Considering the literature for similar population groups, the Italian Multicentric Study on Centenarians (IMSC) reported reference values for Ca in serum of 81-104 μg/ml in 1162 centenarians, with females (84 μg/ml) higher than males (66 μg/ml) (IMSC, 1998). Similarly, Sfar et al (2012) found that plasmatic Ca concentration lowered with age, with values of 105.12 μg/ml in subjects 30-60 years and 95.02 μg/ml in subjects 65-85 years, and females had more Ca than males. Another study reported that female gender and older age were associated with the risk of low plasma Ca concentration (Mataix et al, 2006).…”

Management of the Gastrointestinal Tract and Nutrition in the Geriatric Surgical Patient

“…Not enough is known about trace element status in the elderly to make recommendations for this age group. 66 Ergogenic diets have not been studied sufficiently in the elderly to make recommendations. 67 Biological mechanisms at the cellular level are being evaluated to perhaps detect the effect of micronutrients on aging and to detect the effect of nutritional interventions.…”