1,721,309 research outputs found
Ways to become old: Role of lifestyle in modulation of the hallmarks of aging
No full textLifestyle represents one of the most relevant aspects in aging research since it is an important modifiable factor that affects aging process. A healthy lifestyle can limit the damage caused by environmental influences that face us each day. As gerontology says, there are two ways to become old, without success (unsuccessful aging), manifested by people that develop one or more age-related diseases, and with success (successful aging), defined as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability, which enables well-being in older age. Among the lifestyle factors that may influence successful aging and longevity, physical activity and healthy dietary habits have a great impact. Both can have systemic antiaging effects, playing a significant role in determining well-being of older people, and in delaying and reducing the risk of onset of diseases. Indeed, they can act on all the hallmarks of aging, nine molecular and cellular features that characterize aging phenotype. The aim of this chapter is to summarize the impact of nutritional strategies and exercise or physical activity on the hallmarks of aging
Low grade inflammation as a common pathogenetic denominator in age-related diseases: novel drug targets for anti-ageing strategies and successful ageing achievement
No full textNowadays, people are living much longer than they used to do, however they are not free from ageing. Ageing, an inexorable intrinsic process that affects all cells, tissues, organs and individuals, is a post-maturational process that, due to a diminished homeostasis and increased organism frailty, causes a reduction of the response to environmental stimuli and, in general, is associated to an increased predisposition to illness and death. However, the high incidence of death due to infectious, cardiovascular and cancer diseases underlies a common feature in these pathologies that is represented by dysregulation of both instructive and innate immunity. Several studies show that a low-grade systemic inflammation characterizes ageing and that inflammatory markers are significant predictors of mortality in old humans. This pro-inflammatory status of the elderly underlies biological mechanisms responsible for physical function decline and agerelated diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis are initiated or worsened by systemic inflammation. Understanding of the ageing process should have a prominent role in new strategies for extending the health old population. Accordingly, as extensively discussed in the review and in the accompanying related papers, investigating ageing pathophysiology, particularly disentangling agerelated low grade inflammation, is likely to provide important clues about how to develop drugs that can slow or delay agein
Polyphenols from red wine modulate immune responsiveness: biological and clinical significance
No full textMany studies have been conducted on the effects of red wine polyphenols on certain diseases, primarily, coronary heart disease (CHD) and, in this respect, evidence has been demonstrated that intake of red wine is associated with a reduction of CHD symptomatology. In this framework, the purpose of this review is to illustrate the effects of polyphenols on immune cells from human healthy peripheral blood. Data will show that polyphenols are able to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. In particular, the release of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-12, interferon (IFN)-γ, and IL-10 as well as immunoglobulins may be important for host protection in different immune related disorders. Another important aspect pointed out in this review is the release of nitric oxide (NO) from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), stimulated by red wine polyphenols despite the fact that the majority of studies have reported NO production only by endothelial cells. Release of NO from PBMC may play an important role in cardiovascular disease, because it is known that this molecule acts as an inhibitor of platelet aggregation. On the other hand, NO exerts a protective role against infectious organisms. Finally, some molecular cytoplasmatic pathways elicited by polyphenols able to regulate certain immune responses will also be discussed. In particular, it seems that p38, a molecule belonging to the MAPK family, is involved in the release of IFN-γ and, therefore, in NO production. All these data confirm the beneficial effects of polyphenols in some chronic diseases
A scientific approach to anti-ageing therapies: state of the art
No full textA lasting dream of human beings is to reverse or at least postpone ageing. During the last years, an increasing number of scientific meetings, articles, and books have been devoted to anti-ageing therapies. This subject, full of misleading, simplistic, or wrong ideas, is very popular among the general public, whose imagery has been fascinated by all possible tools to delay ageing, getting immortality. Here, we discuss anti-ageing strategies aimed not to rejuvenate but to slow ageing and delay the onset of age-related diseases. These approaches should be able to substantially slow down the ageing process, extending our productive, youthful lives
Inflammation and prostate cancer
No full textProstate cancer remains a major health concern for the male population throughout the Western world. It is today widely accepted that inflammation has a role in many human cancers. In fact, inflammation is thought to incite carcinogenesis by causing cell and genome damage, promoting cellular turnover and creating a tissue microenvironment that can enhance cell replication, anglogenesis and tissue repair. Accordingly, there is a body of literature suggesting a link between chronic inflammation and prostate cancer, in which prostate inflammation may contribute to the promotion of prostate cancer development. On the other hand, high levels of endogenous gonadal steroids are considered as risk factors for prostate cancer. Interestingly, it is clear that elevation of estrogens in the presence of testosterone results in a prostate-specific Inflammatory response. Thus, it is possible that early inflammatory events stimulated by sex hormones serve as a prerequisite for the onset of prostate cancer. © 2008 Future Medicine
Pathophysiological implications of Inflammation and Genetic Inflammatory Factors in hypertensive and old patients affected by thoracic Aortic Aneurysm
No full textBackground: Sporadic thoracic aortic aneurysm (S-TAA) is potentially devastating with severe morbidity and mortality. Current evidence suggests inflammation as main mechanism of its pathophysiology associated with both ageing and age-related hypertension. Thus, we assessed whether inflammation is the principal mechanism of medial degeneration in hypertensive and old S-TAA individuals.
Methods: Histo-pathological and immunoistochemical aorta examination was executed. Furthermore, genotyping of ten SNPs in cases and controls was performed. Plasma inflammatory molecules were also detected in patients and controls using ELISA technique.
Results: A significant inflammatory/immune CD3+CD4+CD8+CD68+CD20+ cellular infiltrate mainly in vasa vasorum of adventitia was observed in case aortas, suggesting its possible migration from these vessels into media and its role in destroying of all components of extracellular matrix and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSCM)s. Consistent of these data, significant higher plasma levels of systemic inflammatory mediators characterized the cases. Different aorta abnormalities, apoptosis of VSCMs and severe MMP-9 amounts were also found in S-TAA aortas. In addition, five very significant associations with S-TAA risk were detected. Of these, D/I ACE and -1562 C/T MMP-9 SNPs are independent risk factors for S-TAA. Higher tissue and plasma levels of MMP-9 were also observed in -1562T MMP-9 allele carriers. A high S-TAA risk genotype was also detected significantly associated with high levels of systemic inflammatory mediators, immune/inflammatory cells and hypertension.
Conclusions: Results obtained agree emerging evidence of inflammation as shared pathological mechanism for S-TAA, suggesting the role of inflammatory products and genetic profile as possible S-TAA risk biomarkers
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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