Objective: Recent studies have demonstrated that centenarians have a preserved glucose tolerance and insulin action and a more favorable body composition and fat distribution than aged subjects. The strong relationship among glucose tolerance, insulin action, plasma lipid concentration, and lipoprotein metabolism would lead to the hypothesis that healthy centenarians may also have a less atherogenic profile than aged subjects less than 100 years old.
Design: Investigation of the relationship between insulin action and lipid metabolism in healthy centenarians.
Participants: Fifty-six subjects were categorized into three groups: Adults (< or = 50 years old; n = 20); Aged (> or = 75 years old; n = 22); Centenarians (> or = 100 years old; n = 14). The latter represented a select group of individuals free of major age-related diseases.
Measurements: Anthropometric measurements were made in all subjects, fasting blood samples were drawn for metabolite determinations, and an euglycemic glucose clamp was performed.
Results: Compared with aged subjects, healthy centenarians appeared to have a less atherogenic plasma lipid profile. Fasting plasma LDL cholesterol (2.4 +/- 0.6 vs 3.7 +/- .6 mmol/L P < .010) was significantly higher in aged subjects than in centenarians, whereas fasting plasma HDL cholesterol (1.0 +/- 0.4 vs 1.7 +/- .4 mmol/L P < .005) had an opposite trend. In centenarians, insulin-mediated glucose uptake was greater (34.6 +/- 0.5 vs 23.3 +/- .05 mumol/Kg FFM x min P < .010) than in aged subjects and correlated with fasting plasma triglycerides, FFA, LDL, and HDL cholesterol, Apo B, and Apo A1 concentrations. Finally, insulin infusion suppressed plasma FFA concentration in similar ways in adults and centenarians.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that centenarians have a less atherogenic plasma lipid and lipoprotein profile than aged subjects.