RUSS-AGE study: Markers of carbohydrate metabolism and their time course in different age groups of a healthy population of the Russian Federation

Background. One of the important tasks of modern science is to search for key biomarkers of aging of various body systems. Parameters of carbohydrate metabolism play an essential role in maintaining vital activity. The prevalence of carbohydrate metabolism disorders increases with age, but the time course of changes in individual markers remains poorly understood. Therefore, it is important to investigate the patterns of changes in carbohydrate metabolism markers in different age groups among healthy participants, which is the objective of the RUSS-AGE study.

Aim. To evaluate changes in carbohydrate status markers (adiponectin, leptin, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, and carboxymethyllysine – CML) in different age groups of a healthy Russian population.

Materials and methods. The study was conducted at the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University in collaboration with the Moscow City Outpatient Clinic No. 220. The study group included subjects 18 years of age and older who signed an informed consent form; the exclusion criteria were current acute disease, exacerbation of a chronic disease, surgical intervention within the last month, and moderate to severe chronic age-associated diseases. Blood samples were taken to measure aging markers: glucose (enzymatic ultraviolet method), insulin (chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay), glycated hemoglobin (calorimetric method), CML, adiponectin, and leptin (enzyme immunoassay). The study was approved by the local ethics committee (Minutes No. 59 dated 13.09.2022). Statistical analysis was carried out using the R programming language version 4.4.0. The significance threshold for the p-value values given in the article is 0.05.

Results. The study included 711 participants, which were divided into eight age groups. According to the intergroup comparison, a statistically significant direct relationship of age with adiponectin (p<0.001), glucose (p<0.001), and glycated hemoglobin (p<0.001) was found. No significant correlation with age was found for leptin (p=0.116), insulin (p=0.078), and CML (p=0.506). After conducting a statistical analysis using linear regression to assess the dependence of variables on age, it was found that only adiponectin, glucose, and glycated hemoglobin significantly increase with age (p<0.001).

Conclusion. The study showed a significant increase in adiponectin, glucose, and glycated hemoglobin, while leptin, insulin and CML had no significant correlation with age.