Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the association between previous incarceration and various geriatric and chronic health conditions among adults 50 and older in the United States. METHODS: Data came from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health - Parent Study (AHPS) collected in 2015-2017, including 2,007 individuals who participated in the parent study (Parent Sample) and 976 individuals who participated in the spouse/partner study (Spouse/Partner Sample)...

BACKGROUND: Circulating levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been associated with frailty among Koreans (a population with a high intake of fish), but whether this association exists in Western populations with low fish intake is unknown. The present study examined the hypothesis that the prevalence of frailty was inversely associated with plasma levels of n-3 PUFAs, with the intake of oily fish, and with fish oil supplementation in older adults in the UK. METHODS: UK Biobank including 79,330 adults aged ≥ 65 years with dietary data, and 18,802 participants with plasma fatty acid data were used...

Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of cellular functions that increase the risk of developing chronic diseases, vascular dysfunction, and neurodegenerative conditions. The field of geroscience has identified cellular and molecular hallmarks of aging that may serve as targets for future interventions to reduce the risk of age-related disease and disability. These hallmarks include genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient-sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication...

The proportion of older adults in the U.S. is growing, and the older adult population is also becoming increasingly diverse. However, there are limited data on the aging process and older adults in underserved populations. Equitable participation in research studies on aging, the research workforce, and the healthcare workforce is critical to improve health outcomes for the entire U.S. population. Health disparities frameworks offer researchers and healthcare professionals the tools to develop and evaluate aging research that addresses all levels of analysis and domains of influence...

The inaugural Canadian Conferences on Translational Geroscience were held as two complementary sessions in October and November 2023. The conferences explored the profound interplay between the biology of aging, social determinants of health, the potential societal impact of geroscience and the maintenance of health in aging individuals. Although topics such as cellular senescence, molecular and genetic determinants of aging and prevention of chronic disease were addressed, the conferences went on to emphasize practical applications for enhancing older people's quality of life...

BACKGROUND: Although the role of the vascular component in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease is widely accepted and retinal vascular abnormalities are commonly observed in Parkinson's disease patients, evidence connecting retinal vascular disorders with the risk of developing Parkinson's disease is limited. We aimed to investigate the association between retinal vascular occlusion and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease in people over 60 years using a nationwide cohort...

BACKGROUND: It is imperative for public health to identify the factors that contribute to the progression of sarcopenia among middle-aged and older adults. Our study aimed to investigate the association between pain characteristics and the progression to sarcopenia and its subcomponents among middle-aged and older adults in China. METHODS: We included 5568 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). All participants completed assessments for pain characteristics and sarcopenia...

BACKGROUND: Older adults are prone to live alone and feel lonely. The main objective of this study was to assess the associations of loneliness and living alone with cardiovascular disease (CVD) among community-dwelling older individuals in China. METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal analysis on 3661 participants aged over 65 years from the latest 2014 and 2018 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations of loneliness and living alone with CVD risk, with adjustment for confounding factors...

There is consistent evidence that immune response declines with aging, with wide inter-individual variability and a still unclear relationship with the development of frailty. To address this question we assessed the role of immune resilience (capacity to restore immune functions), operationalized as the neutrophil-to-lymphocytes ratio (NL-ratio) and monocytes-to-lymphocytes ratio (ML-ratio), in the pathway that from robust status shifts to pre-frailty and frailty, and finally to death. The InCHIANTI study enrolled representative samples from the registry lists of two towns in Tuscany, Italy...

Alzheimer's disease is strongly linked to metabolic abnormalities. We aimed to distinguish amyloid-positive people who progressed to cognitive decline from those who remained cognitively intact. We performed untargeted metabolomics of blood samples from amyloid-positive individuals, before any sign of cognitive decline, to distinguish individuals who progressed to cognitive decline from those who remained cognitively intact. A plasma-derived metabolite signature was developed from Supercritical Fluid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics...

Several population-based studies have reported that higher serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels are associated with brain morphological changes. However, no population-based studies have examined the relationship between serum NT-proBNP and various regional brain volumes in detail. We here analyzed the brain MRI data of 1,201 community-dwelling Japanese aged ≥65 years. Regional gray matter volumes (GMV) and intracranial volume (ICV) were estimated by applying voxel-based morphometry (VBM) methods...

BACKGROUND: Mechanistic factors on the pathway to improving independent ambulatory ability among hip fracture patients by a multicomponent home-based physical therapy intervention that emphasized aerobic, strength, balance, and functional training are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of two different home-based physical therapy programs on muscle area and attenuation (reflects muscle density) of the lower extremities, bone mineral density, and aerobic capacity...

BACKGROUND: The effect of a healthy lifestyle on dementia associated with multimorbidity-related is not well-understood. Our objective is to examine whether the adoption of a healthy lifestyle could potentially reduce the elevated risk of dementia in individuals with and without multimorbidity. METHODS: We utilized data from the UK Biobank cohort. A comprehensive healthy lifestyle score, ranging from 0 to 6, was generated. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations between multimorbidity, the healthy lifestyle score, and the incidence risk of dementia...

BACKGROUND: We used a polygenic score for hand grip strength (PGS HGS) to investigate whether genetic predisposition for higher muscle strength predicts age-related noncommunicable diseases, survival from acute adverse health events, and mortality. METHODS: This study consisted of 342 443 Finnish biobank participants from FinnGen Data Freeze 10 (53% women) aged 40 to 108 with combined genotype and health registry data. Associations between PGS HGS and a total of 27 clinical endpoints were explored with linear or Cox regression models...

Kidney aging accelerates the progression of various acute and chronic kidney diseases and can also induce pathological changes in other organs throughout the body. Circular RNAs (circRNAs), have been demonstrated to play a vital role in aging and age-related diseases. However, biological functions and the underlying molecular mechanism of circRNAs in kidney aging remain largely unclear. Uncovering the functions of circRNAs in kidney aging and their underlying regulatory mechanisms may shed new light on the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for human aging...

BACKGROUND: Chewing disability is associated with impaired quality of life, potentially leading to depression and cognitive impairment. While the chewing-ability-cognition relationship has been explored, examining whether depression mediates this relationship remains unclear. We investigated the association between chewing disability and cognitive impairment development and a potential mediation via depression among older persons. METHODS: Older persons without cognitive impairment at baseline (n=973) from the three waves of the Panel on Health and Ageing of Singaporean Elderly (PHASE) were investigated...

BACKGROUND: Whilst Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is an established risk factor for cognitive impairment, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly explored. One potential mechanism may be through effects of T2DM on cerebral perfusion. The current study hypothesised that T2DM is associated with altered peripheral and central haemodynamic responses to orthostasis, which may in turn be associated with cognitive impairment in T2DM. METHODS: A novel use of function-on-scalar regression; which allows the entire haemodynamic response curve to be modelled; was employed to assess the association between T2DM and haemodynamic responses to orthostasis...

BACKGROUND: Frailty is associated with urinary and faecal incontinence, which are common geriatric syndromes. This study aims to identify health factors associated with incontinence in pre-frail or frail older adults living in the community. METHODS: This multicentre cross-sectional study included 225 older adults (75.0±6.4 years) with pre-frailty or frailty based on the five-component Fried phenotype. Physical function was assessed using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB)...

There is converging evidence that young blood conveys cells, vesicles and molecules able to revitalize function and restore organ integrity in old individuals. We assessed the effects of young plasma on the lifespan, epigenetic age and healthspan of old female rats. Beginning at 25.6 months of age, a group of 9 rats (group T) was i.p. injected with plasma from young rats until their natural death. A group of 8 control rats of the same age received no treatment (group C). Blood samples were collected every other week...

Macronutrient intake impacts physiology, behavior, physiology and gene expression in a wide range of organisms. We used the response surface methodology to compare how life history traits, lifespan and reproduction differ as a function of protein and carbohydrate intakes under choice and no-choice feeding regimens in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We found that when offered a choice of nutritionally complementary foods mated female flies regulated towards a protein to carbohydrate ratio (P:C) that was associated with shortened lifespan and maximal egg production when compared to response surfaces derived from flies fed one of a range of fixed diets differing in P:C (no-choice regimen)...