Genes, Ageing and Longevity in Humans: Problems, Advantages and Perspectives.

Many epidemiological data indicate the presence of a strong familial component of longevity that is largely determined by genetics, and a number of possible associations between longevity and allelic variants of genes have been described. A breakthrough strategy to get insight into the genetics of longevity is the study of centenarians, the best example of successful ageing. We review the main results regarding nuclear genes as well as the mitochondrial genome, focusing on the investigations performed on Italian centenarians, compared to those from other countries. These studies produced interesting results on many putative "longevity genes". Nevertheless, many discrepancies are reported, l…

Dopamine Use in Intensive Care: Are We Ready to Turn it Down?

Dopamine is still frequently used as a first line vasopressor agent in hypotensive patients, when physicians are afraid of noradrenaline and believe that dopamine, with its β and α, inotrope and vasopressor effects, may be helpful. Evidence exists that it does not offer protection from renal failure, even if at low doses (0, 3-5 mcg/Kg/min) it may exert its effects on D1 and D2 receptors resulting in natriuresis and renal vasodilation, augmentation in renal blood flow, and diuresis. The effects of dopamine on gastrointestinal system and splanchnic perfusion in critical care patients are even more controversial, since they seem to be at least partially dependent on the initial fractional spl…

International conference on biomedical aspects of aging research December 10-13, 1997 Fondazione Cini, San Giorgio, Venezia, Italy