Search results for " Centenarians"
showing 10 items of 17 documents
Circulating miRNAs and miRNA shuttles as biomarkers: Perspective trajectories of healthy and unhealthy aging
2017
Human aging is a lifelong process characterized by a continuous trade-off between pro-and anti-inflammatory responses, where the best-adapted and/or remodeled genetic/epigenetic profile may develop a longevity phenotype. Centenarians and their offspring represent such a phenotype and their comparison to patients with age-related diseases (ARDs) is expected to maximize the chance to unravel the genetic makeup that better associates with healthy aging trajectories. Seemingly, such comparison is expected to allow the discovery of new biomarkers of longevity together with risk factor for the most common ARDs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) and their shuttles (extracellular vesicles in particular) are curre…
Gut microbiota and aging-A focus on centenarians.
2020
Gut microbiota (GM) is a dynamic organ throughout the lifespan. Aging is a complex process that comprises a plethora of mechanisms such as senescence, immunosenescence and inflammaging, representing important pathways of age-related diseases. GM structure could both influence and be influenced by aging occurring changes within the host. A unique category of long living individuals exists, namely centenarians that have the outstanding capacity to adapt to various challenges. Longevity seems to be associated with certain GM which, among other factors, might render individuals more resistant to age-related diseases and subsequently to long living. Diet, prebiotics, probiotics and synbiotics ma…
Fetuin-A in elderly: effect of genotype on serum levels
2011
Fetuin-A is a circulating inhibitor of ectopic calcification in vivo; it is decreased in patients with chronic kidney disease and correlates with glomerular filtration rate in patients with coronary artery disease. However, serum levels of Fetuin-A has not been described in elderly. Aim of the study was to evaluate Fetuin-A serum levels together with AHSG T256S genotype in a population of healthy elderly. Serum fetuin-A levels were determined by ELISA. T256S polymorphism of AHSG gene was determined by PCR-RFLP. Serum Fetuin-A was 0,38 ± 0,13 g/l in the group composed by 206 healthy centenarians. Moreover, subjects with at least one S allele had lower Fetuin-A levels (P<001). Interestingly, …
Interventions to Slow Aging in Humans: Are We Ready?
2015
The workshop entitled 'Interventions to Slow Aging in Humans: Are We Ready?' was held in Erice, Italy, on October 8-13, 2013, to bring together leading experts in the biology and genetics of aging and obtain a consensus related to the discovery and development of safe interventions to slow aging and increase healthy lifespan in humans. There was consensus that there is sufficient evidence that aging interventions will delay and prevent disease onset for many chronic conditions of adult and old age. Essential pathways have been identified, and behavioral, dietary, and pharmacologic approaches have emerged. Although many gene targets and drugs were discussed and there was not complete consens…
Laboratory parameters in centenarians of Italian ancestry
2008
Studies aimed at collecting reference parameters for haematochemical analysis in the elderly are scarce and for the oldest old subjects even more rare. In order to establish the reference values for the most common laboratory text in long living individuals, we measured haematochemical parameters in >100 years old subjects and in aged subjects as control. Six hundred and two centenarians accepted to be enrolled in the study. A case history containing the complete anamnesis, clinical examinations, evaluation of the clinical cognitive and functional tests, was prepared for each centenarian. Blood samples from 120 > 100 years old subjects free of chronic or acute Illness (i.e. Alzheimer’s dise…
Centenarian offspring: A model for understanding longevity
2013
Abstract: A main objective of current medical research is to improve the life quality of elderly people as priority of the continuous increase of ageing population. This phenomenon implies several medical, economic and social problems because of dramatic increase in number of non autonomous individuals affected by various pathologies. Accordingly, the research interest is focused on understanding the biological mechanisms involved in determining the positive ageing phenotype, i.e. the centenarian phenotype. In achieving this goal the choice of an appropriate study models is fundamental. Centenarians have been used as an optimal model for successful ageing. However, this model shows several …
Immune parameters identify Italian centenarians with a longer five-year survival independent of their health and functional status
2014
Centenarians are rare and exceptional individuals characterized by a peculiar phenotype. They are the best example of healthy aging in humans as most of them have escaped or substantially delayed the onset of major age-related diseases. Within this scenario, the purpose of the present work was to understand if immune status is associated with survival and health status in centenarians. To this aim, 116 centenarians were concomitantly characterized for their immunological, health and functional status, and followed-up for five-year survival. On the basis of previous knowledge we focused on a core of fundamental and basic immune parameters (number of leukocytes, monocytes, total lymphocytes, …
Genetic signatures of centenarians: Implications for achieving successful aging
2019
The extraordinary rise in the old population in the Western world underscores the importance of studies on aging and longevity to decrease the medical, economic and social problems associated with the increased number of non-autonomous individuals affected by invalidating pathologies. Centenarians have reached the extreme limits of the human life span. They are the best example of extreme longevity, representing selected individuals in which the appearance of major age-related diseases has been consistently delayed or avoided. There is growing evidence that the genetic component of longevity becomes higher with survival at the age of over 90 years. For centenaries, it reaches up to 33% for…
Centenarians' offspring as a model of healthy aging: a reappraisal of the data on Italian subjects and a comprehensive overview.
2016
Within the scenario of an increasing life expectancy worldwide it is mandatory to identify determinants of healthy aging. Centenarian offspring (CO) is one of the most informative model to identify trajectories of healthy aging and their determinants (genetic and environmental), being representative of elderly in their 70th whose lifestyle can be still modified to attain a better health. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of the health status of 267 CO (mean age: 70.2 years) and adopts the innovative approach of comparing CO with 107 age‐matched offspring of non‐long‐lived parents (hereafter indicated as NCO controls), recruited according to strict inclusion demographic cri…
Mediterranean Diet and Longevity in Sicily: Survey in a Sicani Mountains Population
2012
Over the past several years, increasing evidence suggests that the Mediterranean diet has a beneficial influence on several age-related diseases, showing protective effect on health and longevity. Mediterranean diet refers to dietary patterns found in olive-growing regions of the Mediterranean countries. Previous data reported that in Sicily, Italy, the largest Mediterranean island, there are some mountainous regions where there is a high frequency of male centenarians with respect to the Italian average. The aim of the present study was to characterize centenarians living in one of this region, the Sicani Mountains, located in western Sicily. Present data shows that in this zone there are …