The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals
Aging is characterized by a chronic increase in the systemic levels of inflammatory cytokines even in ostensibly healthy individuals. The drivers of age-related increase in systemic inflammation are unclear but one potential contributor may be a persistent infection with Cytomegalovirus (CMV). In th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/4/990 |
| _version_ | 1798045156648157184 |
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| author | Svetlana Di Benedetto Marcel Gaetjen Ludmila Müller |
| author_facet | Svetlana Di Benedetto Marcel Gaetjen Ludmila Müller |
| author_sort | Svetlana Di Benedetto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aging is characterized by a chronic increase in the systemic levels of inflammatory cytokines even in ostensibly healthy individuals. The drivers of age-related increase in systemic inflammation are unclear but one potential contributor may be a persistent infection with Cytomegalovirus (CMV). In this study, we characterized the inflammatory status of 161 older participants recruited to undergo a six-month training intervention. We investigated the influence of gender and CMV-seropositivity on the main inflammatory and anti-inflammatory circulating biomarkers, such as cytokines, receptor antagonist, soluble receptor, immune cells, and relevant metabolic markers. We found that both gender and CMV-seropositivity modulate circulating peripheral biomarkers, and that CMV-infection modifies associations among the latter. Moreover, we observed an interaction between CMV-serostatus and gender associations with cognitive abilities: gender differences in fluid intelligence (Gf) and working memory (WM) were noted only in CMV-negative individuals. Finally, we found that in the CMV-seronegative participants Gf, episodic memory (EM), and WM correlated negatively with pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor (TNF); and EM correlated positively with anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10. In CMV-seropositive individuals EM and Gf correlated negatively with pro-inflammatory IL-6, while EM, Gf, and WM correlated negatively with anti-inflammatory IL-1RA. We conclude that both CMV-serostatus and gender may modulate neuroimmune factors, cognitive performance and the relationship between the two domains and should therefore be considered in comparative and interventional studies with elderly people. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:16:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11291f9e280042daa2a78df5995496e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:16:08Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-11291f9e280042daa2a78df5995496e42022-12-22T03:57:36ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1422-00672019-02-0120499010.3390/ijms20040990ijms20040990The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly IndividualsSvetlana Di Benedetto0Marcel Gaetjen1Ludmila Müller2Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, GermanyBecton Dickinson Biosciences, Tullastr. 8-12, 69126 Heidelberg, GermanyCenter for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, GermanyAging is characterized by a chronic increase in the systemic levels of inflammatory cytokines even in ostensibly healthy individuals. The drivers of age-related increase in systemic inflammation are unclear but one potential contributor may be a persistent infection with Cytomegalovirus (CMV). In this study, we characterized the inflammatory status of 161 older participants recruited to undergo a six-month training intervention. We investigated the influence of gender and CMV-seropositivity on the main inflammatory and anti-inflammatory circulating biomarkers, such as cytokines, receptor antagonist, soluble receptor, immune cells, and relevant metabolic markers. We found that both gender and CMV-seropositivity modulate circulating peripheral biomarkers, and that CMV-infection modifies associations among the latter. Moreover, we observed an interaction between CMV-serostatus and gender associations with cognitive abilities: gender differences in fluid intelligence (Gf) and working memory (WM) were noted only in CMV-negative individuals. Finally, we found that in the CMV-seronegative participants Gf, episodic memory (EM), and WM correlated negatively with pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor (TNF); and EM correlated positively with anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10. In CMV-seropositive individuals EM and Gf correlated negatively with pro-inflammatory IL-6, while EM, Gf, and WM correlated negatively with anti-inflammatory IL-1RA. We conclude that both CMV-serostatus and gender may modulate neuroimmune factors, cognitive performance and the relationship between the two domains and should therefore be considered in comparative and interventional studies with elderly people.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/4/990agingimmunosenescenceinflammagingpro-inflammatory cytokinesanti-inflammatory cytokinescytomegalovirusgendercognition |
| spellingShingle | Svetlana Di Benedetto Marcel Gaetjen Ludmila Müller The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals International Journal of Molecular Sciences aging immunosenescence inflammaging pro-inflammatory cytokines anti-inflammatory cytokines cytomegalovirus gender cognition |
| title | The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals |
| title_full | The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals |
| title_fullStr | The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals |
| title_short | The Modulatory Effect of Gender and Cytomegalovirus-Seropositivity on Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Cognitive Performance in Elderly Individuals |
| title_sort | modulatory effect of gender and cytomegalovirus seropositivity on circulating inflammatory factors and cognitive performance in elderly individuals |
| topic | aging immunosenescence inflammaging pro-inflammatory cytokines anti-inflammatory cytokines cytomegalovirus gender cognition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/4/990 |
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