The ageing pancreas: a systematic review of the evidence and analysis of the consequences

Senior people constitute the fastest growing segment of the population. The elderly are at risk for malnutrition, thought to be caused by reduced food intake or involution of the physiological capacity of the GI tract. Age-related changes are well known in other secretory organs such as liver, kidney and intestine. The pancreas, representing a metabolically active organ with uptake and breakdown of essential nutritional components, changes its morphology and function with age. During childhood, the volume of the pancreas increases, reaching a plateau between 20 and 60 years, and declines thereafter. This decline involves the pancreatic parenchyma and is associated with decreased perfusion, fibrosis and atrophy. As a consequence of these changes, pancreatic exocrine function is impaired in healthy older individuals without any gastrointestinal disease. Five per cent of people older than 70 years and ten per cent older than 80 years have pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) with a faecal elastase-1 below 200 μg g-1 stool, and 5% have severe PEI with faecal elastase-1 below 100 μg g-1 stool. This may lead to maldigestion and malnutrition. Patients may have few symptoms, for example steatorrhoea, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and weight loss. Malnutrition consists of deficits of fat-soluble vitamins and is affecting both patients with PEI and the elderly. Secondary consequences may include decreased bone mineral density and results from impaired absorption of fat-soluble vitamin D due to impaired pancreatic exocrine function. The unanswered question is whether this age-related decrease in pancreatic function warrants therapy. Therapeutic intervention, which may consist of supplementation of pancreatic enzymes and/or vitamins in aged individuals with proven exocrine pancreas insufficiency, could contribute to healthy ageing.