Cytokines, insulin-like growth factor 1, sarcopenia, and mortality in very old community-dwelling men and women: the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: Aging is associated with increased production of catabolic cytokines, reduced circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and acceleration of sarcopenia (loss of muscle with age). We hypothesized that these factors are independently linked to mortality in community-dwelling older persons.

Methods: We examined the relation of all-cause mortality to peripheral blood mononuclear cell production of inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha], interleukin 1 beta, interleukin 6), serum interleukin 6 and IGF-1, and fat-free mass and clinical status in 525 ambulatory, free-living participants in the Framingham Heart Study.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 and interleukin 6 predict sarcopenia in very old community-living men and women: the Framingham Heart Study.

Objectives: To assess the prognostic role of the inflammatory cytokine, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in predicting 2-year changes in fat-free mass (FFM) while controlling for potential confounders.

Design: Population-based cohort, the Framingham Heart Study, examined in 1992-93 and 1994-95.

Setting: General community.

Development of a biosensor-based method for detection and isotyping of antibody responses to adenoviral-based gene therapy vectors.

A biosensor-based assay, using a surface plasmon resonance detection system, was developed to detect and isotype anti-adenoviral antibodies in patients dosed with an adenoviral-based gene therapy vector. In the assay, whole, intact virus was immobilized onto the sensor chip surface. Electron microscopy and monoclonal antibody studies provide evidence that the virus remains intact after immobilization.

Cachexia in rheumatoid arthritis is not explained by decreased growth hormone secretion.

Objective: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) lose body cell mass (BCM) by unknown mechanisms. Since the loss of BCM in normal aging individuals parallels the characteristic age-related decline in growth hormone (GH) secretion, this study was carried out to determine whether further decreased GH secretion plays a role in the pathogenesis of this loss of BCM in RA patients, termed "rheumatoid cachexia."

Methods: GH secretory kinetics were determined by deconvolution analysis in 16 patients with RA and 17 healthy controls matched for age (mean +/- SD 45.

Cytokine responses differ by compartment and wasting status in patients with HIV infection and healthy controls.

Inflammatory cytokines are implicated in the loss of lean tissue that occurs in patients with inflammatory and infectious diseases, including HIV infection. However, it is not known whether plasma levels or cellular production of cytokines, or their antagonists, are more closely related to lean tissue loss. We studied whether plasma cytokine analysis could substitute for PBMC production assays in studies of nutrition status and disease state, and if cytokine antagonists could offer an alternative in assessing cytokine status.