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Basal metabolic rate and thyroid hormones of late-middle-aged and older human subjects: the ZENITH study

Abstract

Objective:

This paper describes baseline data on basal metabolic rate (BMR), thyroid hormone levels and body composition of middle-aged and older people participating in the ZENITH project and the correlation of thyroid hormone levels with zinc status.

Design:

A multicentre prospective intervention study employing a randomised double blind design.

Setting:

Clermont-Ferrand, Theix (France), Coleraine (Northern Ireland), Grenoble (France), Rome (Italy).

Interventions:

BMR has been measured on a subsample of 70 middle-aged volunteers (35 men and 35 women recruited in Clermont-Ferrand, France, aged 55–70 y) and 108 older volunteers (56 men and 52 women recruited in Rome, Italy, aged 70–85 y). Thyroid hormone levels were evaluated in the entire group of ZENITH volunteers (n=387). BMR was measured by indirect calorimetry. Fat-free mass (FFM) was derived by four skinfold thicknesses using Durnin and Womersley's equations. Concentrations of thyroid hormones (total T3 and T4) were measured using a competitive immunoassay with an enhanced chemiluminescence end point.

Results:

Italian older volunteers had a significantly lower FFM than middle-aged French volunteers (−7% P<0.01). A negative correlation between BMR and age (men, r= −0.64; women, r= −0.62; both P<0.0001) was observed: BMR was significantly (P<0.000001) lower in Italian elderly volunteers (4.03±0.46 kJ/min and 3.29±0.42 kJ/min for men and women, respectively) than in middle-aged French volunteers (4.84±0.45 kJ/min and 3.87±0.38 kJ/min for men and women, respectively), even after adjustment for FFM (−12%). No correlation has been observed between BMR and thyroid hormones both in French and Italian subjects. Total T4 (TT4) concentrations were lowest in middle-aged population (−10%, P<0.0001). A moderate negative correlation has been found with TT4 and red blood cell zinc (r=−0.12, P<0.02, slope −0.026).

Conclusions:

The results confirm an age-related decline in BMR not entirely explained by body composition or thyroid hormones differences.

Sponsorship:

The ZENITH study is supported by the European Commission ‘Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources’, Fifth Framework Programme, Contract no. QLK1-CT-2001-00168.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Elisabetta Toti for her valuable support in performing the software used to input, check and elaborate the Italian data.

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Correspondence to A Polito.

Additional information

Guarantor: A Polito.

Contributors: AP was the scientist responsible for the INRAN partner contribution and wrote the paper; DC and AT performed BMR measurements on Italian subjects; JHB was responsible for thyroid hormone analysis and contributed to interpretation of the results; NM, MAS, were responsible for the clinical trials and collected the data at each centre; JMO was the scientist responsible for the UU partner contribution; CC was the ZENITH project coordinator. All authors have contributed to the paper revision.

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Meunier, N., Beattie, J., Ciarapica, D. et al. Basal metabolic rate and thyroid hormones of late-middle-aged and older human subjects: the ZENITH study. Eur J Clin Nutr 59 (Suppl 2), S53–S57 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602299

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