Figure 2
Changes of MNC glucose metabolism during aging. All data are obtained using MNC isolated from peripheral blood (PB) of healthy subjects with an age between 5 and 106 years. (A,B) Show the efficiency of the oxidative phosphorylation, expressed as P/O ratio, in the presence of pyruvate + malate or succinate, respectively. In both cases, the values decrease during aging, suggesting an uncoupling between oxygen consumption and ATP synthesis, which determines a low efficiency in energy production. (C) Reports the lactate dehydrogenase activity, as a marker of anaerobic glucose metabolism. The values increase in the elderly subjects, indicating that the lactate fermentation enhances parallel to the aging. (D) Shows the level of malondialdehyde (MDA), as a marker of oxidative stress, which increases with aging, probably due to the minor OXPHOS efficiency. In each panel, the population is divided by decades. * or ** indicate, respectively, a significant difference for p < 0.05 or p < 0.01 between the marked decades and the previous decade.
