Aging & Longevity

CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with prior autism trait-based research in the general population, middle-aged and older autistic adults report more extensive sleep problems and worse sleep quality than non-autistic adults. Sleep problems were associated with older age and poorer mental health. Though the study is cross-sectional, the findings highlight the need to explore causal links through intervention. Addressing anxiety, and mental health problems more broadly, may improve sleep quality in ageing...

Brain aging provides an integrative marker of systemic health, but whether regional patterns outperform whole-brain approaches remains unknown. Here, we show that regional brain age signatures achieve superior mortality prediction through identifiable neurovascular-immune mechanisms in 1,240 community-dwelling adults followed for 10 years (120 deaths). While global brain age independently predicts mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.044 per year), a data-driven three-region model combining the left...

INTRODUCTION: Aging is associated with declines in physical and cognitive capacities, which become more pronounced after age 80. Institutionalization may further increase anxiety and depression. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and effects of a dance intervention on physical function, cognition, and mental health in institutionalized older adults with cognitive impairment.

Aging is accompanied by a decline in circulating ketone bodies and progressive cardiac dysfunction, yet whether dietary ketone repletion counteracts cardiac aging in a sex-specific manner remains unclear. Here, we first investigated the associations between plasma ketone bodies and cardiac function in a human cohort, comprising 120 adults (44.78 ± 10.97 years; 66 male/54 female) and 121 aged individuals (69.59 ± 6.88 years; 75 male/46 female). And, we then evaluated the therapeutic potential of...

CONCLUSIONS: The effects of psychosocial stress-inflammation associations are complex and may depend on cardiovascular burden. Replication is needed to establish temporality and clinical relevance.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are ubiquitous on magnetic resonance images (MRI) in older adults. However, the rate and mechanisms of their proliferation remain unclear, as they are inferred mainly from cross-sectional studies and imperfect single indicators of theoretical constructs. To assess the magnitude of WMH change and its modifiers, we conducted a meta-analysis of 54 longitudinal studies. We found the increase in WMH burden over time (pooled effect size) even in the studies with...

Advancements occurred in the last century have gradually extended human lifespan. However, increased lifespan does not necessarily coincide with an equivalent extension of healthy life expectancy. The increasing gap of years between healthy and unhealthy life challenges individual aspirations for a meaningful longevity and strains the sustainability of health and social care systems. Aging remains the main risk factor for diseases, and comorbidity does not fully account for the disparities...

Alternative splicing is a fundamental post-transcriptional mechanism that contributes to cardiovascular development, homeostasis, and disease. Serine/arginine-rich splicing factors (SRSFs), a conserved family of 12 RNA-binding proteins, regulate splice-site selection and other RNA-processing events through their RNA-recognition motifs and arginine/serine-rich domains. Growing evidence implicates SRSF dysregulation in congenital heart disease, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, ischemic...

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a large-vessel vasculitis predominantly affecting individuals over 50 years, with a peak incidence between 70 and 80 years. Its pathogenesis involves complex immunological cascades triggered by vascular dendritic cell activation, recruitment of CD4⁺ T cells and monocytes, T helper lymphocyte polarization, and vascular remodeling driven by myofibroblasts and fibroblasts. Growing evidence implicates cellular senescence (particularly in vascular smooth muscle cells,...

The cardio-renal-hepatic-metabolic (CRHM) axis represents the bidirectional network through which cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, metabolic dysfunction, and liver disorders propagate injury across organs. Within this network, Klotho has emerged as a context-dependent regulator linking mineral metabolism, metabolic homeostasis, cellular stress, inflammation, and tissue remodelling. Klotho comprises distinct signalling axes: the renal α-Klotho-Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23...

Cellular senescence contributes to age-associated tissue dysfunction through persistent growth arrest, metabolic remodeling, and altered communication with immune and stromal cells. Senolytic therapies preferentially eliminate susceptible senescent cells, while senomorphic therapies modulate harmful senescence-associated activities. Nanoparticle engineering can improve the delivery of these agents through cargo protection, surface functionalization, and controlled release. Surface ligands can...

This review evaluates the impact of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 on adults aged 25 to 55, focusing on the potential for accelerated biological aging and an increased incidence of acute cardiovascular events. By synthesizing evidence from 110 epidemiological and mechanistic studies, we examine the interplay between viral-induced immune dysregulation, endothelial injury, and systemic physiological decline in a demographic previously considered low-risk for severe outcomes. Our analysis...

Aging is associated with profound alterations in gut microbiota composition and function, including reduced production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), yet it remains unclear whether these age-related microbial changes directly contribute to impaired antiviral defense during influenza A virus (IAV) infection. To address this question, we first characterized age-associated alterations of the gut microbiome and SCFA-related metabolic potential in a murine model of IAV infection. We then used a...

Aging is the predominant risk factor for cardiac dysfunction, driven primarily through a decline in cardiomyocyte and overall myocardial performance. Cellular senescence is becoming increasingly linked to its development, as senescent cardiomyocytes and interstitial cells accumulate with age and exhibit persistent DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation that collectively impair ventricular relaxation and contractility. Senolytics, which selectively eliminate senescent cells,...

Age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, also known as sarcopenia, is closely linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. In this study, we report that senescent skeletal muscle myoblasts exhibit elevated activity and expression of the enzyme glutaminase (GLS1), which is mediated by p38 MAPK signaling and leads to intracellular urea accumulation that impairs mitochondrial function. Pharmacological inhibition of GLS1 with CB-839 reduced urea levels, restored the expression of electron...

Community context is an important determinant of health for older and aging adults. However, much of the research examining these associations has focused on Western contexts. Features and attributes of communities in low- and middle-income countries that might also shape health outcomes among older adults are less understood. This cross-sectional study examines community-level toilet coverage in India as a possible determinant of depression among adults over 45. We applied a multilevel modeling...

Dietary patterns are modifiable determinants of dementia risk, but the interactions between individual dietary preference profiles, biological aging, and dementia risk remain unclear. We aimed to investigate associations of dietary preference profiles with biological aging and incident dementia, as well as the potential modifying effect of genetic susceptibility. Dietary preference profiles were identified using latent profile analysis on food preferences questionnaire data. Cox models estimated...

AgingHallmarksDB is an interactive web platform designed to facilitate systems-level aging research centered on 11 aging hallmarks. It comprises 3111 aging hallmark-associated genes integrated from seven established databases, including a high-confidence consensus set comprising 1089 genes. It further incorporates tissue, cell-type class, exosomes, protein-protein and regulatory interactions to facilitate deeper biological insights. AgingHallmarksDB enables over representation analysis (ORA) and...

CONCLUSION: Our findings underscore the relevance of wealth as an important socioeconomic resource for cognitive health beyond income and education, particularly in old age, when income is typically reduced. Overall, the results support modest concurrent associations between personality, SES, and episodic memory levels, but provide hardly any evidence for longitudinal effects. More frequent and longer-term longitudinal assessments are needed to clarify potential effects on cognitive aging.

Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) are exceptionally long-lived. We sequenced the genome and methylome of Jonathan, a 194-year-old Aldabra, to explore the molecular basis of his longevity. Relative to other giant tortoises (A. gigantea and Chelonoidis abingdonii), Jonathan has unique gene variants in most aging pathways. Moreover, Jonathan has substantial DNA methylation and methylation entropy changes compared to four other Aldabras ranging in age from a 5-year-old juvenile to...