Search results for " PATOLOGIA"

Bioimpedance: a new approach for studying longevity

2017

Centenarians are the best model to study successful ageing. Unfortunately, they are rare and do not have an aged-matched control population to compare their exceptional characteristics with non-longevous people. Considering the complexity of molecular studies, the opportunity to analyse the centenarian phenotype with anthropometry could be an easy and no invasive interesting solution to identify peculiar measurable variables. In addition to the classic measurements, the bioelectrical impedance could be considered. This method permits to analyse the body composition, in terms of fat free mass and fat mass. Ageing is related to reduced fat free mass and increased body fat. The reduction of th…

Updates in Pathobiology: Causality and Chance in Ageing, Age-Related Diseases and Longevity

2017

The relationship between causality and chance is an open discussion in many disciplines. Often, the boundary among these events is thin to understand if an occurrence is related to one or to both. In particular, ageing, the related diseases, and longevity are difficult to define as consequence of causality, chance or both.

Mediterranean Diet as a tool for achieving successful ageing

2017

Targeted interventions to slow or postpone ageing and to favour an active life expectancy represent the new perspectives in ageing investigation. Some mechanisms that delay or prevent the onset of ageing disabilities and pathologies have been identified. In general, maintaining a healthy lifestyle seems to reduce many risk factors. In particular, eating habits represent the most concrete and low-cost method to address ageing. Of all dietary habits analysed, the Mediterranean diet has received much attention since it has consistently proven its beneficial influence on health and longevity. The Mediterranean diet is characterized by low glycaemic index and low animal protein intake, it is ric…

From cellular senescence to age-associated diseases: miRNAs as tools and targets for healthy ageing

2017

miRNAs are the most abundant RNA species to be found in cell-free blood, encapsulated within microvesicles or bound to proteins. miRNAs play essential roles in the regulation of various biological processes. Moreover, specific changes in miRNA transcription levels or miRNA secretory levels have been linked to the development and progression of certain age-related diseases. So, they might be an ideal target for modulating healthy ageing

Healthy eating as a strategy to achieve successful ageing: focus on Mediterranean diet and functional foods.

People want to live longer. To date, it is impossible not to grow older, but it is desirable to get older in good health, avoiding age-related disabilities. To do this, it is necessary to have a healthy lifestyle which can limit the damage caused by the environmental hazards that face us each day. In humans, healthy ageing and longevity are modulated by a fortunate interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Regarding the latter, physical activity and healthy dietary habits are the most important modifiable factors that can affect the maintenance of a healthy ageing phenotype. A feasible diet that reduces the risk of ageing-related diseases, promoting health ageing and longevity,…

Fasting and "Fasting mimicking diet" (FMD) an effective intervention to promote longevity and health span

Aging and chronic inflammation: highlights from a multidisciplinary workshop

2023

Abstract: Aging is a gradual, continuous series of natural changes in biological, physiological, immunological, environmental, psychological, behavioral, and social processes. Aging entails changes in the immune system characterized by a decrease in thymic output of naïve lymphocytes, an accumulated chronic antigenic stress notably caused by chronic infections such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), and immune cell senescence with acquisition of an inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). For this reason, and due to the SASP originating from other tissues, aging is commonly accompanied by low-grade chronic inflammation, termed “inflammaging”. After decades of accumulating evide…

Expression of calpain-calpastatin system (CCS) member proteins in human lymphocytes of young and elderly individuals; pilot baseline data for the CAL…

2013

Abstract Background Ubiquitous system of regulatory, calcium-dependent, cytoplasmic proteases – calpains – and their endogenous inhibitor – calpastatin – is implicated in the proteolytic regulation of activation, proliferation, and apoptosis of many cell types. However, it has not been thoroughly studied in resting and activated human lymphocytes yet, especially in relation to the subjects’ ageing process. The CALPACENT project is an international (Polish-Italian) project aiming at verifying the hypothesis of the role of calpains in the function of peripheral blood immune cells of Polish (Pomeranian) and Italian (Sicilian) centenarians, apparently relatively preserved in comparison to the g…

Centenarians born before 1919 are resistant to COVID-19.

2022

Although mortality from COVID-19 progressively increases with age, there are controversial data in the literature on the probability of centenarians dying from COVID-19. Moreover, it has been claimed that men in their 90s and 100s are more resilient than women. To gain insight into this matter, we analysed, according to gender, mortality data during the first year of pandemic of Sicilian nonagenarians and centenarians. We used mortality data from the 2019 as a control. The crude excess mortality between the two years was calculated. Data on deaths of Sicilian 90 + years show that, in line with what is known about the different response to infections between the two genders, oldest females a…

Age-associated changes in circulatory fatty acids: new insights on adults and long-lived individuals

2022

Long-lived individuals (LLIs) are considered an ideal model to study healthy human aging. Blood fatty acid (FA) profile of a cohort of LLIs (90–111 years old, n = 49) from Sicily was compared to adults (18–64 years old, n = 69) and older adults (65–89 years old, n = 54) from the same area. Genetic variants in key enzymes related to FA biosynthesis and metabolism were also genotyped to investigate a potential genetic predisposition in determining the FA profile. Gas chromatography was employed to determine the FA profile, and genotyping was performed using high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis. Blood levels of total polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) and total trans-FA decreased with age, while the lev…