Hemostasis and ageing

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

On March 19, 2008 a Symposium on Pathophysiology of Ageing and Age-Related Diseases was held in Palermo, Italy. The lecture of D. Mari on Hemostasis and ageing is summarized herein. Physiological ageing is associated with increased plasma levels of many proteins of blood coagulation together with fibrinolysis impairment. This may be of great concern in view of the known association between vascular and thromboembolic diseases and ageing. On the other hand, centenarians are characterized by a state of hypercoagulability and possession of several high-risk alleles and well-known atherothrombotic risk markers but this appears to be compatible with longevity and/or health. Parameters considered risk factors for atherosclerotic vascular diseases in young people may lose their biological significance in advanced age and assume a different role.

Related collections

Most cited references 21

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Total cholesterol and risk of mortality in the oldest old.

Luke Blauw, A. E. Meinders, R Westendorp … (1997)

The impact of total serum cholesterol as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease decreases with age, which casts doubt on the necessity for cholesterol-lowering therapy in the elderly. We assessed the influence of total cholesterol concentrations on specific and all-cause mortality in people aged 85 years and over. In 724 participants (median age 89 years), total cholesterol concentrations were measured and mortality risks calculated over 10 years of follow-up. Three categories of total cholesterol concentrations were defined: or = 6.5 mmol/L. In a subgroup of 137 participants, total cholesterol was measured again after 5 years of follow-up. Mortality risks for the three categories of total cholesterol concentrations were estimated with a Cox proportional-hazards model, adjusted for age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors. The primary causes of death were coded according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). During 10 years of follow-up from Dec 1, 1986, to Oct 1, 1996, a total of 642 participants died. Each 1 mmol/L increase in total cholesterol corresponded to a 15% decrease in mortality (risk ratio 0.85 [95% CI 0.79-0.91]). This risk estimate was similar in the subgroup of participants who had stable cholesterol concentrations over a 5-year period. The main cause of death was cardiovascular disease with a similar mortality risk in the three total cholesterol categories. Mortality from cancer and infection was significantly lower among the participants in the highest total cholesterol category than in the other categories, which largely explained the lower all-cause mortality in this category. In people older than 85 years, high total cholesterol concentrations are associated with longevity owing to lower mortality from cancer and infection. The effects of cholesterol-lowering therapy have yet to be assessed.

0 comments Cited 62 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Hemostasis factors and aging.

Daniela Mari, R Provenzano, R. Coppola (2008)

With advancing age, an increasing number of healthy individuals have laboratory signs of heightened coagulation enzyme activity. Such biochemical hypercoagulability might be the basis of either the increased thrombotic tendency occurring with age or a harmless manifestation of this process. Centenarians had striking signs of heightened coagulation enzyme activity, accompanied by signs of enhanced formation of fibrin and secondary hyperfibrinolysis. Plasma concentrations of fibrinogen and factor VIII were higher than in controls, whereas other coagulation factors were not elevated. It is of interest that centenarians have a significantly higher frequency than young individuals of the high risk 4G allele of the PAI-1-675 (4G/5G) polymorphism, mutant factor V (Arg506Gln) and prothrombin gene G20210A mutation. Von Willebrand factor (VWF), a well-known independent predictor of atherothrombotic disease, was increased in centenarians, independently of the blood group, confirming the previous results of a state of hypercoagulability. The finding that the VWF cleaving proteases levels are low when VWF levels are high in centenarians could be a corollary of the previous described paradox of successful aging, adding another marker of increased risk of atherothrombosis to the scenario. Alike, high prevalence of anti-phospholipids antibodies, not associated with an anti-phospholipid syndrome has been described in centenarians. In conclusion, the data show the oldest old do not escape the state of hypercoagulability associated with aging, but that this phenomenon is compatible with health and longevity. Hence, high plasma levels of the coagulation activation markers in older populations do not necessarily mirror a high risk of arterial or venous thrombosis.

0 comments Cited 37 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Hypercoagulability in centenarians: the paradox of successful aging.

David R. Rosenberg, P Mannucci, B Bottasso … (1995)

With advancing age, an increasing number of healthy individuals have laboratory signs of heightened coagulation enzyme activity. Such biochemical hypercoagulability might be the basis of either the increased thrombotic tendency occurring with age or a harmless manifestation of this process. To see whether these alterations are also present in the very elderly who had aged successfully, 25 healthy centenarians were studied and results of coagulation and fibrinolysis measurements were compared with those obtained in two control groups of healthy adults, 25 ranging in age from 18 to 50 years and 25 from 51 to 69 years. Older controls had, in general, slightly higher values of several coagulation and fibrinolysis measurements than younger controls. Centenarians had striking signs of heightened coagulation enzyme activity, as assessed directly by measuring activated factor VII in plasma (P < .01, compared with either control group) or indirectly by measuring the plasma levels of the activation peptides of prothrombin, factor IX, factor X, and thrombin-antithrombin complexes (all P < .001). Heightened coagulation enzyme activity was accompanied by signs of enhanced formation of fibrin (high fibrinopeptide A, P < .001) and secondary hyperfibrinolysis (high D-dimer and plasmin-antiplasmin complex, P < .001). Plasma concentrations of fibrinogen and factor VIII were higher than in controls, whereas other coagulation factors were not elevated. In conclusion, this study shows the very elderly do not escape the state of hypercoagulability associated with aging, but that this phenomenon is compatible with health and longevity. Hence, high plasma levels of the coagulation activation markers in older populations do not necessarily mirror a high risk of arterial or venous thrombosis.

0 comments Cited 30 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Immun Ageing

Title: Immunity & Ageing : I & A

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1742-4933

Publication date Collection: 2008

Publication date (Electronic): 23 October 2008

Volume: 5

Page: 12

Affiliations

[1 ]Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e U.O. di Geriatria, IRCCS, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Università di Milano, Milano, Italy

[2 ]Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metodologie Biomediche, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Article

Publisher ID: 1742-4933-5-12

DOI: 10.1186/1742-4933-5-12

PMC ID: 2602988

PubMed ID: 18947391

SO-VID: 0476fad2-87a4-48c0-b453-c8b751b87bec

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Hemostasis and ageing

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Gamma Delta T cells

Most cited references 21

Total cholesterol and risk of mortality in the oldest old.

Hemostasis factors and aging.

Hypercoagulability in centenarians: the paradox of successful aging.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 193

Cited by 22

Most referenced authors 176