Key points from article :
Low levels of cortisol and protein known as GILZ can trigger chronic inflammatory responses.
Cortisol deficiency in the body leads to an inflammatory response.
The serum level of cortisol in the body is lower in the elderly.
Macrophages' ability to convert inactive cortisone to active cortisol declines with age.
Study indicate that GILZ is implicated in macropages malfunction in elderly.
Hypothesis: loss of GILZ contributes to macrophage-mediated inflammation in older individuals.
Lower cortisol level causes macrophages to produce less GILZ.
Which in turn means that the macrophages simply continue to release inflammatory signaling molecules.
They genetically deactivated GILZ, and indeed confirmed the hypothesis.
Researchers from Saarland University, published in Aging Cell.
