ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of age and gender on anti-oxidative,antiinflammatory and anti-apoptosis functions of high-density lipoprotein (HDL).Methods Totally 120 healthy subjects aged from 20 to 60 years were randomly divided into young and middle-aged male (n=60) group and female (n =60) group,and the 120 healthy elderly aged from 60 to 78 years divided into elderly male (n =60) and elderly female (n =60) groups.Serum levels of high-and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C,LDL-C),total cholesterol (TC),and triacylglycerol (TG) were detected.Content of malonaldehyde (MDA) was detected to determine anti-oxidative function of HDL.Adhesion assay of endothelial cells and monocytes (THP1) was adopted to test the protective effects of HDL on endothelial cells.The expressions of endothelial cell adhesion molecules,VCAM-1 and ICAM-1,were analyzed by Western blot.MTT and flow cytometry assays were used to detect the viability and apoptosis of the cells to test anti-apoptosis function of HDL.Results The levels of low-density lipoprotein,triglycerides and total cholesterol were higher in elder female group than in other three groups (all P＜0.05).The level of HDL-C was higher in young and middle-aged females than in other three groups(all P＜0.05).The level of MDA was higher in elder female group than in other three groups(all P＜0.05).The level of MDA was higher in elder male group than in the young and middle-aged male and female groups(all P＜0.05).After protection of HDL,the number of monocytes adhesion and expression levels of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 were higher in elder groups than in young and middle-aged male and female groups(all P＜ 0.05).Relative survival and viability rates of endothelial cells were higher in young and middle-aged groups than in elder groups (all P＜0.05).Conclusions Ageing in both male and female induces impairments of anti-oxidative,anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptosis functions of HDL,with more evident decrease in anti-oxidative function in females.