Age-related differences in inflammatory markers in men: contribution of visceral adiposity.

Abstract As visceral adipose tissue (AT) accumulation and inflammatory markers are known to increase with age, we examined whether this age-related change in regional AT distribution could contribute to the increase in the concentration of some inflammatory markers found with age. Two hundred eight healthy men aged 18.6 to 72.2 years and covering a wide range of adiposity values (body mass index, 18.5-39.3 kg/m 2 ) were studied. Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor– α (TNF- α ) levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Anthropometric characteristics such as height, weight, and waist girth were measured; and body mass index was calculated. Cross-sectional areas of abdominal AT were obtained at L4-L5 by computed tomography. Fasting blood samples were collected to determine a complete lipoprotein lipid profile, and a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was performed. Overall, visceral AT accumulation was positively correlated with age ( r = 0.51, P r = 0.39, P r = 0.32, P α ( r = 0.14, P r = 0.36, P r = 0.39, P α ( r = 0.15, P P P P