Inflammatory biomarkers, multi-morbidity, and biologic aging

To study the association between multi-morbidity percentiles, which is a measure of clinical aging, and interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α.

Participants 50 to 95 years of age from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging were assigned age- and sex-specific multi-morbidity percentiles using look-up tables that were reported previously (n = 1646). Percentiles were divided into quintiles for analysis. Plasma IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α levels were measured in 1595 participants. Median inflammatory marker levels were compared across multi-morbidity quintiles using nonparametric tests.

People with higher multi-morbidity percentiles had significantly higher IL-6 and TNF-α levels compared with those with lower multi-morbidity percentiles. Tests for trend across five multi-morbidity quintiles were significant among women for IL-6 and among participants 70 years of age or older for IL-6 and TNF-α. IL-10 was not associated with multi-morbidity percentiles.

Multi-morbidity percentiles may be a useful clinical index of biological age for future studies, particularly in women and people 70 years of age and older.