Tryptophan degradation and neopterin levels by aging

Abstract

Increased neopterin concentrations and altered tryptophan degradation are observed in diseases concomitant with cellular immune activation. This may be involved in the pathogenesis of several age-related disorders such as neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular system disorders and malignancies. Therefore, in the present study, the evaluation of immune system activation by determination of tryptophan degradation and serum neopterin levels was carried out in volunteers aged ≥65 and 0.05). Effects of gender, smoking habit, pathology and drug use on measured parameters were also evaluated. In conclusion, our findings show that aging is associated with immune activation, and immune activation may be induced by the number of existing pathologies as well as the number of drugs used.

Keywords

• elderly
• immunomodulation
• kynurenine pathway
• neopterin