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The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access published online on April 9, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, doi:10.1093/gerona/glp048
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Accumulation of Cells With Short Telomeres Is Associated With Impaired Zinc Homeostasis and Inflammation in Old Hypertensive Participants

Catia Cipriano1, Silvia Tesei1, Marco Malavolta1, Robertina Giacconi1, Elisa Muti1, Laura Costarelli1, Francesco Piacenza2, Sara Pierpaoli1, Roberta Galeazzi3, Maria Blasco4, Elsa Vera4, Andres Canela4, Fabrizia Lattanzio5 and Eugenio Mocchegiani1

1 Immunology Center, Nutrigenomic and Immunosenescence Section, Research Department Istituto Nazionale Riposo e Cura per Anziani, Ancona, Italy
2 Department of Molecular Pathology, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
3 Laboratory Analysis, Istituto Nazionale Riposo e Cura per Anziani Hospital, Ancona, Italy
4 Telomeres and Telomerase Group, Molecular Oncology Program, Spanish National Cancer Centre, Madrid, Spain
5 Scientific Direction, Istituto Nazionale Riposo e Cura per Anziani, Ancona, Italy

Address correspondence to Dr. Eugenio Mocchegiani, BS, Immunology Center (Section: Nutrigenomic and Immunosenescence), Research Department INRCA, via Birarelli 8, 60121 Ancona, Italy. Email: e.mocchegiani{at}inrca.it


  Abstract

Critical shortening of telomeres, likely associated with a considerable increase of senescent cells, can be observed in PBMC of individuals aged 80 and older. We investigated the relationship between critical telomere shortening and zinc status in healthy or hypertensive participants with or without cardiovascular disease in old and very old participants. Telomere shortening and accumulation of cells with short telomeres (percent of cells with short telomeres) in advancing age was evident in patients and healthy controls, but exacerbated in those patients aged 80 and older. Moreover, in very old patients, the accumulation of % CST may impair intracellular zinc homeostasis and metallothioneins expression, which itself is linked to an increased number of inflammatory agents, thereby suggesting the existence of a possible causal relationship between % CST and zinc homeostasis. The determination of % CST could be a more reliable means than the simple measure of telomere length as fundamental parameter in ageing to determine whether individuals are still able to respond to stress.

Keywords Metallothioneins; Cell senescence; Zinc; Hypertension; Inflammation

Received: December 19, 2008; Accepted: March 3, 2009

Decision Editor: Huber R. Warner, PhD


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