The Prognostic Value of Serum Albumin in Healthy Older Persons with Low and High Serum Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) Levels
Abstract
OBJECTIVE : We sought to determine the prognostic value of serum albumin for 4‐year mortality among high‐functioning persons who did or did not have evidence of inflammation as indicated by high interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) levels. DESIGN : We used a case‐cohort design of healthy, nondisabled older persons who had serum albumin and plasma IL‐6 measured at baseline. Crude and multiply adjusted (for sociodemographics and chronic diseases) proportional hazards models were used to identify the effect of baseline levels of serum albumin level on 4‐year mortality among those with higher and lower levels of IL‐6. RESULTS : Among subjects without evidence of IL‐6‐mediated inflammation (IL‐6 < 3.20 pg/mL), having a lower (≤4.4 g/dL) albumin level was associated with a multiply adjusted relative risk of 2.1 for 4‐year mortality compared with those with higher albumin. In the presence of inflammation (IL‐6 ≥ 3.20 pg/mL), higher and lower serum albumin levels had similar risks (adjusted relative risks 4.0 and 3.8, respectively) compared with the referent group (higher albumin and low IL‐6). CONCLUSIONS : High serum albumin has a protective effect in healthy older persons who do not have evidence of cytokine‐mediated inflammation. This protective effect is not conferred in presence of inflammation. The mechanisms by which inflammation eliminates the protective effect of high albumin remain to be determined.
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Epidemiological studies of individuals 65 or older have found that the highest quartile had IL-6 values >3.19 pg/ml.
“Epidemiological studies of individuals 65 or older have found that the highest quartile had values > 3.19 pg ∕ ml (39, 40).”
From Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6. (2003) · cites this paper as [40]
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Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6.
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“The adjusted R Square for this model was 0.627.”
Influential
- Authors
- Reuben, D. B., Ferrucc, L., Wallace, R., Tracy, R. P., Corti, M. C., Heimovitz, H., & Harris, T. B.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- University of Vermont (US)
- University of Padua (IT)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Venue
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2000-11
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1404-1407
- ISSN
- 0002-8614 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5415
- OpenAlex
- W2057941307
- Cited by
- 66
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG 10415-01, P60AG010415)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Inflammatory Biomarkers in Disease Prognosis
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Nephrology › Dialysis and Renal Disease Management
- Keywords
- serum albumin, interleukin-6, inflammation, mortality, older adults, prognostic factors, cytokine-induced inflammation, healthy aging
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Death Certificates, Female, Geriatrics, Health Status, Humans, Inflammation, Iowa, Male, Mortality, Prognosis, Risk Factors, Rural Health, Serum Albumin, Cohort Studies, Interleukin-6, Proportional Hazards Models
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