Aging & Longevity

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide kinase (NADK) is essential to the generation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP(H)), an important metabolic coupling factor involved in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. In the present study, we showed that the expression of Nadk and Nadk2 transcripts and NADP(H) content were lower in islets of 80-week-old (aged) mice than those of 8-week-old (young) mice. This was associated with diminished oral glucose tolerance of old mice and the...

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This study investigates the relationship between white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and longitudinal cognitive decline in older adults. Using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), we examined WMH characteristics, including volume, location, and microstructural integrity, in a community-dwelling population of 497 individuals over a six-year period. WMHs were categorised into phenotypes based on their size, fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD), with subtypes...

CONCLUSION: Body Roundness Index, in conjunction with age, gender, and hypertension, can serve as a useful predictor of cognitive impairment, particularly in younger populations. Early identification of individuals at risk through BRI may facilitate timely interventions, reducing the burden of cognitive decline on patients and healthcare systems.

CONCLUSION: In contrast to straight walk metrics, this study shows that DTWT turn dynamics are more sensitive to detect cognitive impairment. Consequently, incorporating turning movements into gait analysis techniques could enhance diagnostic protocols in clinical settings, offering a valuable tool for monitoring the progression of conditions associated with cognitive aging.

CONCLUSION: With rich detail arising from intra-task quantification, the results were consistent with and additive to previous literature showcasing that compared to middle-aged adults, young adults showed performance suggestive of riskier driving behavior, and old adults showed performance suggestive of caution consequent to declining driving ability. In particular, the intra-task quantification revealed that the driving of young adults was more impacted by the presence of distraction (e.g.,...

Astrocytes are neuromodulator cells. Their complex and dynamic morphology regulates neuronal signaling, synaptic plasticity, and neurogenesis. The impact of aging on astrocyte morphology is still under ongoing debate. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize astrocyte morphology in the hippocampus of older rats. 2-, 18-, and 20-month-old male Wistar rats were submitted to the object recognition test to assess their short- and long-term memories. CA1, CA2, CA3, and the dentate gyrus were...

Genomic instability and inflammation are distinct hallmarks of aging, but the connection between them is poorly understood. Here we report a mechanism directly linking genomic instability and inflammation in senescent cells through a mitochondria-regulated molecular circuit involving p53 and cytoplasmic chromatin fragments (CCF) that are enriched for DNA damage signaling marker γH2A.X. We show that p53 suppresses CCF accumulation and its downstream inflammatory phenotype. p53 activation...

In the subterranean rodent (Nanno)spalax galili, evolutionary adaptation to hypoxia is correlated with longevity and tumor resistance. Adapted gene-regulatory networks of Spalax might pinpoint strategies to maintain health in humans. Comparing liver, kidney and spleen transcriptome data from Spalax and rat at hypoxia and normoxia, we identified differentially expressed gene pathways common to multiple organs in both species. Body-wide interspecies differences affected processes like cell death,...

Haematopoietic stem cells maintain blood production throughout life¹. Although extensively characterized using the laboratory mouse, little is known about clonal selection and population dynamics of the haematopoietic stem cell pool during murine ageing. We isolated stem cells and progenitors from young and old mice, identifying 221,890 somatic mutations genome-wide in 1,845 single-cell-derived colonies. Mouse stem cells and progenitors accrue approximately 45 somatic mutations per year, a rate...

The progressive decline of vascular integrity and blood-brain barrier (BBB) function is associated with aging, a major risk factor for stroke. This review describes the cellular and molecular changes in the brain microvasculature of the neurovascular unit (NVU) that contribute to the development of BBB dysfunction in aging, such as endothelial cell senescence, oxidative stress, and degradation of tight junction proteins. Stroke severity and recovery are exacerbated by BBB breakdown, leading to...

Aging affects human immune system functionality, increasing susceptibility to immune-mediated diseases. While gene expression programs accurately reflect immune function, their relationship with biological immune aging and health status remains unclear. Here we developed robust, cell-type-specific aging clocks (sc-ImmuAging) for the myeloid and lymphoid immune cell populations in circulation within peripheral blood mononuclear cells, using single-cell RNA-sequencing data from 1,081 healthy...

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Aging is associated with a decline in muscle mass and function, increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes. Amino acid profiling has emerged as a potential tool for assessing skeletal muscle health. This study examines the associations between fasting plasma amino acids, muscle function, and inflammation in healthy older and young adults. Data from 131 participants (101 older adults, 71.5±4.9 years; 30 young adults, 25.5±3.9 years) were analyzed. Skeletal muscle mass was assessed using...

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CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the important role of the Internet in shaping healthcare utilization, particularly in addressing urban-rural disparities. Implementing Internet-based interventions among older adults is recommended to reduce disparities and improve healthcare access.

CONCLUSIONS: Participant experiences of the yoga programme interlinked views on health, ageing, exercise, and sustainable health management. Yoga presented as a safe, acceptable, and adaptable option for non-pharmacological health management in older adults. Impact on biopsychosocial health was variable, and directly linked to participants' longer term yoga engagement. Education of health professionals and activity providers regarding ageist stereotypes of health and ageing, together with the...

CONCLUSION: This study informs the high level of economic costs of suicide attempts that were being neglected. By thoroughly understanding demographic characteristics, emerging trends, and cost classifications, policymakers can devise more effective strategies to prevent suicide attempts, provide timely support, and mitigate the associated economic and social burdens.

Women live longer than men and exhibit less cognitive aging. The X chromosome contributes to sex differences, as females harbor an inactive X (Xi) and active X (Xa), in contrast to males with only an Xa. Thus, reactivation of silent Xi genes may contribute to sex differences. We use allele-specific, single-nucleus RNA sequencing to show that aging remodels transcription of the Xi and Xa across hippocampal cell types. Aging preferentially changed gene expression on the X's relative to autosomes....

Once taken into consideration, sex differences in neurological diseases emerge in abundance: (i) Stroke severity is significantly higher in females than in males, (ii) Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is more pronounced in females, and (iii) conspicuous links with hormonal cycles led to female-specific diagnoses, such as catamenial migraines and epilepsy. While these differences receive increasing attention in isolation, they likely link to similar processes in the brain. Hence, this review...