Inflammatory markers of cardiovascular disease in the elderly.

UNLABELLED: Most information on the role of inflammatory markers as cardiovascular disease predictors concerns only middle-aged individuals. This review aims at evaluating the role of inflammatory markers as cardiovascular disease predictors in the elderly. The Medline (Pubmed) and Cochrane databases were used in the search, using the key words. After adding the following filters: LIMITS: Aged 65+ years, Humans, Randomized Controlled Trial, Meta-Analysis, Review, Clinical Trials, 554 studies were identified. Of these, 120 were selected and evaluated regarding their power of evidence (classification of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine). In studies with patients older than 65 years, interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) showed to be good predictors of cardiovascular events. Regarding C-reactive protein (CRP), the data are inconsistent, as it appears to have lower power of prediction in the elderly when compared to middle-aged individuals. Fibrinogen levels seem to be predictors of mortality, although they are non-specific predictors, i.e., not solely of cardiovascular mortality. Additionally, the inflammatory markers are also indicative of functional decline and mortality, regardless of the presence of cardiovascular disease. The current evidence is not sufficient to allow the routine use of inflammatory markers in the elderly, as there are few studies in this age range and most of them are short-term ones with a small number of inflammatory markers. The routine request for these markers must be decided on an individual basis.