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Trace Element Levels in the Elders over 80 from the Hainan Province of China

  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Trace elements are key regulators of metabolism and physiological pathways, and their levels change during aging. Hair, as a biological sample, has attracted much attention due to its ease of collection and slow substance metabolism. Also, trace elements in hair can reveal the distribution of essential nutrients and toxic elements in the body pools. Therefore, we investigated the lifestyle and dietary status by questionnaire and measured 8 trace elements in hair and 6 elements in blood of a sample of elders over 80 residing in Hainan province of China. Our data showed that the concentration of Se, Fe and Pb dropped as people grow older, but Mn rose. Changes in trace elements may affect enzyme activity and biological pathways, and are associated with many diseases, including cancer and chronic diseases. In addition, association between age-related diseases and trace elements are increasingly being reported, suggesting that approaches of combining nutrition with longevity studies in the further study will help us to identify the mechanisms whereby trace elements affect the aging process.

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Availability of data and material: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

BMI:

body mass index

Ca:

calcium

Cr:

chromium

Cu:

copper

DBP:

diastolic blood pressure

Fe:

iron

Hb:

haemoglobin

HDL-C:

high-density lipoprotein cholesterol

K:

potassium

LDL-C:

low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

Mg:

magnesium

Mn:

manganese

Na:

sodium

P:

phosphorus

Pb:

lead

SBP:

systolic blood pressure

Se:

selenium

Sr:

strontium

TC:

total cholesterol

TG:

triglyceride

Zn:

zinc

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate all the participants of the Hainan Centenarian Study for their continued cooperation.

Funding

Funding: This study was funded by Sanya Health Care Project (2017YW23), Nation Key R & D Program of China (2018YFC2000400), National S &D Resource Sharing service platform Project of China (YCZYPT[2018]07), and General Hospital of PLA Medical Big Data R & D Project (MBD2018030). There is no role of the funding body in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hainan Hospital of PLA General Hospital, Sanya, 572000, China

    Qiao Zhu, C.-X. Ning & Ya-Li Zhao

  2. Center for Healthy Aging and Development Studies, National School of Development, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Y. Yao

Authors
  1. Qiao Zhu
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  2. Y. Yao
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  3. C.-X. Ning
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  4. Ya-Li Zhao
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Contributions

Author contributions: ZQ designed the study and drafted the manuscript. YY participated in the design of the study and performed the investigation. NCX performed the statistical analysis. ZYL conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, and helped to draft the manuscript. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qiao Zhu or Ya-Li Zhao.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: Prior to investigation and physical examination, we have got the consent from the participants or from their family members such as sons and daughter-in-laws. If the participants could not sign their names because of illiteracy or being cognitive-impaired, their names were signed by their direct relatives after the consent of the participants. The Ethics Committee of the Hainan branch of PLA General Hospital (Sanya, Hainan) approved the study protocol (No. of serial: 301HNLL-2016-01).

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Competing interests: On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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Zhu, Q., Yao, Y., Ning, CX. et al. Trace Element Levels in the Elders over 80 from the Hainan Province of China. J Nutr Health Aging 23, 883–889 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1239-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-019-1239-1

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