0000000001233733
AUTHOR
Stefano Aprile
showing 8 related works from this author
Age and Gender-related Variations of Molecular and Phenotypic Parameters in A Cohort of Sicilian Population: from Young to Centenarians
2021
People are living longer, but lifespan increase does not coincide with a boost in health-span. Thus, improving the quality of life of older people is a priority. Centenarians reach extreme longevity in a relatively good health status, escaping or delaying fatal or strongly invalidating diseases. Therefore, studying processes involved in longevity is important to explain the biological mechanisms of health and well-being, since knowledge born from this approach can provide valuable information on how to slow aging. We performed the present study in a well characterized very homogeneous sample of 173 people from Western Sicily, to update existing literature on some phenotypic aspects of aging…
The Phenotypic Characterization of the Cammalleri Sisters, an Example of Exceptional Longevity
2020
This article shows demographic, clinical, anamnestic, cognitive, and functional data as well as biochemical, genetic, and epigenetic parameters of two exceptional siblings: Diega (supercentenarian) and Filippa (semisupercentenarian) Cammalleri. The purpose of this study is to provide new insights into the extreme phenotypes represented by semisupercentenarians and supercentenarians. Different studies have been published on supercentenarians, but to the best of our knowledge, this is the only concerning two sisters and the most detailed from a phenotypic point of view. Our findings agree with the suggestion that supercentenarians have an increasing relative resistance to age-related diseases…
Genotypic and phenotypic aspects of longevity: results from a Sicilian survey and implication for the prevention and the treatment of age-related dis…
2019
Background:It is well known that long living individuals are a model of successful ageing and that the identification of both genetic variants and environmental factors that predispose to a long and healthy life is of tremendous interest for translational medicine.Methods:We present the preliminary findings obtained from an ongoing study on longevity conducted on a sample of Sicilian long-lived individuals.Results:We review the characteristics of longevity in Sicily, taking into account lifestyle, environment, genetics, hematochemical values, body composition and immunophenotype. In addition, we discuss the possible implications of our data for the prevention and/or treatment of age-related…
Pro-inflammatory status is not a limit for longevity: case report of a Sicilian centenarian
2020
Most studies on centenarians represent them as the best model of ageing. They are defined “delayers”, if they exhibit age-related diseases between 80 and 99 years, “survivors” if they show clinically demonstrable diseases before the age of 80 years, and “escapers” when they attain their 100th year of life without any common age-associated pathologies.
Triggering of Toll-like Receptors in Old Individuals. Relevance for Vaccination
2019
Aging is characterized by a general decline in a range of physiological functions, with a consequent increase in the risk of developing a variety of chronic diseases and geriatric syndromes. Additionally, increasing age is accompanied by a progressive decline in both innate and acquired immune system, referred to as immunosenescence. This impaired ability to mount an efficient immune response after exposure to microorganisms or vaccines represents a major challenge in acquiring protection against pathogens in aging. Therefore, there is still a great need for vaccines that are tailored to optimally stimulate the aged immune system, thus promoting more successful aging. Various strategies ca…
Analysis of T and NK cell subsets in Sicilian population from young to supercentenarian: the role of age and gender
2021
Summary Ageing dramatically affects number and function of both innate and adaptive arms of immune system, particularly T cell subsets, contributing to reduced vaccination efficacy, decreased resistance to infections and increased prevalence of cancer in older people. In the present paper, we analysed the age‐related changes in the absolute number of lymphocytes in 214 Sicilian subjects, and in the percentages of T and natural killer (NK) cells in a subcohort of donors. We compared these results with the immunophenotype of the oldest living Italian supercentenarian (aged 111 years). The results were also sorted by gender. The correlation between number/percentage of cells and age in all ind…
Sicilian centenarian offspring are more resistant to immune ageing
2018
Background: Immunosenescence constitutes a major indirect cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Previous analysis of immune signatures in a cohort of centenarian offspring showed an intermediate immunophenotype between age-matched and younger controls. Aims: To confirm and extend the previous studies performing further phenotypical analysis in centenarian offspring and controls. Methods: Analysis of Treg cells, γδ T cells, mucosal-associated invariant T cells, and senescent immune T cells was performed in centenarian offspring and controls. Results: We report significant differences between elderly and centenarian offspring in most of the studied subsets, showing that centenarian…
Sicilian semi- and supercentenarians: identification of age-related T cell immunophenotype to define longevity trait
2023
: The immunophenotype of oldest centenarians, i.e., semi- and supercentenarians, could provide important information about their ability to adapt to factors associated with immune changes, including ageing per se and chronic Cytomegalovirus infection. We investigated, by flow cytometry, variations in percentages and absolute numbers of immune cell subsets, focusing on T cells, and pro-inflammatory parameters in a cohort of 28 women and 26 men (age range 19-110 years). We observed variability in hallmarks of immunosenescence related to age and Cytomegalovirus serological status. The eight oldest centenarians showed the lowest percentages of naïve T cells, due to their age, and the highest pe…