Regolazione delle metallotionine in età molto avanzata: Ci sono altri fattori determinanti oltre all'infiammazione e all'apporto di zinco quotidiano?

Aim. The aim of this study was to study the influence of dietary zinc intake and IL-6 on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) Metallothioneins (MT) in a healthy elderly population aged 60-100 years. Method. We performed an observational study on n. 308 Italian healthy elderly subjects (age > 60 years) including n. 82 octa-nonagenarians. Zinc dietary intake was recorded by a frequency food questionnaire. IL-6 and MT were assessed with well established laboratory techniques. Influence of age, IL-6 and Zinc dietary intake on MT levels were studied by Univariate Analysis. Results. MT decreases in octa-nonagenarians elderly subjects compared to the younger elderly and the levels of these protein are interactively regulated by the zinc dietary intake and IL-6 levels. However, the phenomena observed in octa-nonagenarians cannot be simply explained by the interaction among dietary zinc intake and IL-6, suggesting that other factors interfere with MT levels in these subjects. Conclusions. Taking into account the relevance of MT in drug resistance and toxic effects associated with particular chemotherapeutic drugs, these results suggest that this issue requires further study in order to implement drug management of octa-nonagenarians subjects allowing optimal treatment for these patients.