Inflammation underlying cardiovascular mortality is a late consequence of evolutionary programming.

SPECIFIC AIMSWith the increase in life expectancy, death from cardiovascular disease has risen greatly. There is increasing evidence that inflammation plays an important role in this process. We tested the hypothesis that cardiovascular mortality in old age is the late consequence of an evolutionary programming for proinflammatory responses. Over 85 years of age, a predisposition to produce high TNF-α and low IL-10 innate responses was shown to predict cardiovascular mortality; it was proved in the same study population that this cytokine risk profile is under the control of evolutionary programming.PRINCIPAL FINDINGS1. In old age, high TNF-α and low IL-10 responses are predictors of cardiovascular deathFor a group of 311 Dutch women, aged 85 years, derived from the general population, their capacity to produce the pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) was determined in ex vivo whole blood stimulations with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Parti...