Quantitative and Qualitative Alterations of Acute-phase Proteins in Healthy Elderly Persons

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Abstract
To assess acute-phase proteins in relation to ageing, we measured serum concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), serum amyloid-A protein (SAA), alpha-1 acid glycoprotein (AGP) and glycosylation microheterogeneity of AGP in 131 healthy elderly individuals (aged ≥65 years) living independently in the community, and 47 healthy younger individuals. Concentrations of CRP in the older persons (median = 3.0μg/ml) were significantly greater than in the younger group (median = 0.9μg/ml, p = 0.0003). Concentrations of SAA and AGP were similar in the two groups, but AGP glycosylation forms with reduced binding affinity for concanavalin-A (changes that have been observed in chronic inflammatory states) were increased in the elderly sample (p < 0.0001). These findings suggest that both quantitative and qualitative alterations of acute-phase proteins occur with physiological ageing in humans.

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