Are circulating DNA and inflammation related? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Circulating cell free DNA fragments are found in your bloodstream when cells die and release what’s inside. Some of that DNA is your genetic material and some comes from mitochondria, the power plants of your cells. Johns Hopkins geriatrics expert Peter Abadir says higher levels of these DNA fragments also correlate with higher stress markers.

Abadir:  So we looked at 672 community dwelling older adults. We quantified those circulating cell free DNA fragments and we looked at other markers that push people to age before their times, like chronic inflammation, like TNF alpha receptor one. Those are biomarkers of inflammation and stress, biomarkers that are associated with premature aging or frailty.          :24

Abadir says it is known that cell free DNA can provoke an immune response and may therefore increase inflammation and stress related biomarkers, but how all of these factors may increase one’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease and frailty isn’t yet known. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.