%0 Journal Article
%T Low heart-type fatty acid binding protein level during aging may protect down syndrome people against atherosclerosis
%A Vianello Elena
%A Dogliotti Giada
%A Dozio Elena
%A Romanelli Massimiliano Marco Corsi
%J Immunity & Ageing
%D 2013
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1742-4933-10-2
%X Background Aging is considered an important independent risk factor for atherosclerosis. Down syndrome people (DS) display an accelerated aging process compared to healthy subjects, anyway they are relatively resistant to developing atherosclerosis. The mechanisms involved in such protective effect are not well known. Since heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) is a protein involved in the transport of fatty acids and it has been recently correlated with the presence of atherosclerosis, we aimed to measure H-FABP level both in DS and in healthy subjects during aging to evaluate the association between this molecule, aging and atherosclerosis. Findings We quantified plasmatic H-FABP level in three groups of male DS and age-matched healthy subjects (children, age 2¨C14 years; adults, age 20¨C50 years; elderly, > 60 years) using a biochip array analyzer. We observed that aging is associated with increased H-FABP level in healthy subjects but not in DS which display both the same protein level in the different ages of life and have also lower level compared to their age-matched healthy subjects. Conclusion Reduced H-FABP level during aging in DS may play a protective role against atherosclerosis. The potential involvement of H-FABP in the relationship between aging, atherosclerosis and development of coronary artery disease needs further investigations.
%K Aging
%K Atherosclerosis
%K Down syndrome
%K Heart-type fatty acid binding protein
%U http://www.immunityageing.com/content/10/1/2