Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1 alpha and beta in healthy elderly subjects

To determine the age-related changes in monokine secretion, the serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) were measured in 31 young healthy subjects (21–35 years old) and 19 healthy elderly subjects (65–83 years old). There were no differences between the two groups with respect to serum concentrations of these cytokines. We also measured in a subgroup of young (n=8–11) and elderly (n=8–10) subjects the in vitro secretion of TNF and IL-1β in response to adding to the medium lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 2 ng/ml), interferon gamma (50 U/ml) or advanced glycosylation endproduct of bovine serum albumin (250 ug/ml). Only LPS-stimulated IL-1β production was significantly reduced in elderly subjects (456.7 ± 229.9 vs 1118.8 ± 494.8 pg/ml). It is concluded that with the possible exception of LPS-stimulated IL-1β production, monokine secretion measured in this study is well preserved in elderly subjects.