Chest
Original Research: COPDVarious Mechanistic Pathways Representing the Aging Process Are Altered in COPD
Section snippets
Study Population
As part of the Individualized COPD Evaluation in relation to Ageing (ICE-Age) study, registered on www.controlled-trails.com with identifier ISRCTN86049077, a total of 280 subjects were enrolled (Figure 1). From them, 160 clinically stable patients with COPD were randomly selected (n = 35) or admitted for pulmonary rehabilitation in CIRO (Horn, The Netherlands), and 120 healthy elderly (82 smokers and 38 never-smokers) were recruited from the same region and were of comparable sex and age to
Subject Characteristics
The patients with COPD had, as defined, significant airflow obstruction (Table 1). In addition, the PY number and number of ex-smokers was higher in patients compared with the control smokers. Plasma levels of CRP, IL-6, fibrinogen as well as total leukocyte numbers were increased and IL-8 tended to be increased in patients with COPD compared with both control groups. Plasma uric acid levels and catalase gene expression were not different, but SOD2 gene expression was significantly lower in the
Discussion
This is the first study, to our knowledge, investigating a batch of aging markers in smoker and never-smoker control subjects and subjects with COPD. Our hypothesis that all aging markers were altered in the COPD group could not be confirmed, albeit consistent alterations of different markers in circulating blood cells of patients with COPD were present. Telomere length was shorter and expression of the anti-aging molecules sirtuin 1 and Sklotho, and of the DNA repair gene Ku70 were decreased
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: E. P. A. R., P. G., E. F. M. W., and N. L. R. contributed to study conception and design; E. P. A. R., P. G., F. M. E. F., G. J. H., and N. L. R. contributed to analysis and interpretation; E. P. A. R. and N. L. R. guarantee the manuscript and are responsible for the data and its accuracy; and E. P. A. R., E. F. M. W., F. M. E. F., L. E. V., M. A. S., and N. L. R. contributed to the drafting of the manuscript for important intellectual content.
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Cited by (0)
FUNDING/SUPPORT: This study was performed by a grant of the Lung Foundation Netherlands, previously Dutch Asthma Foundation [3.2.09.049].