Search results for "longevity."
showing 10 items of 373 documents
Autophagy during ageing – from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde
2017
Autophagy is a ubiquitous catabolic process, which causes cellular bulk degradation through vesicular engulfment of obsolete, damaged or harmful cytoplasmic components. While autophagy regulates cellular homeostasis during development and in youth, there is mounting evidence that autophagy becomes increasingly dysfunctional with age. Recent work in Caenorhabditis elegans even suggests that late-life dysfunctional autophagy exhibits detrimental effects that drive the ageing process. Other studies link elevated autophagy closely to increased health and longevity. This review aims to put these apparently opposing views into perspective and define our current understanding of the role of autoph…
Longevity-related molecular pathways are subject to midlife “switch” in humans
2019
Emerging evidence indicates that molecular aging may follow nonlinear or discontinuous trajectories. Whether this occurs in human neuromuscular tissue, particularly for the noncoding transcriptome, and independent of metabolic and aerobic capacities, is unknown. Applying our novel RNA method to quantify tissue coding and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), we identified ~800 transcripts tracking with age up to ~60 years in human muscle and brain. In silico analysis demonstrated that this temporary linear “signature” was regulated by drugs, which reduce mortality or extend life span in model organisms, including 24 inhibitors of the IGF‐1/PI3K/mTOR pathway that mimicked, and 5 activators that oppos…
Novel molecular mechanisms for the adaptogenic effects of herbal extracts on isolated brain cells using systems biology.
2018
Abstract Introduction Adaptogens are natural compounds or plant extracts that increase adaptability and survival of organisms under stress. Adaptogens stimulate cellular and organismal defense systems by activating intracellular and extracellular signaling pathways and expression of stress-activated proteins and neuropeptides. The effects adaptogens on mediators of adaptive stress response and longevity signaling pathways have been reported, but their stress-protective mechanisms are still not fully understood. Aim of the study The aim of this study was to identify key molecular mechanisms of adaptogenic plants traditionally used to treat stress and aging-related disorders, i.e., Rhodiola r…
Effects of berberine, curcumin, resveratrol alone and in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs and signal transduction inhibitors on cancer cells-P…
2017
Over the past fifty years, society has become aware of the importance of a healthy diet in terms of human fitness and longevity. More recently, the concept of the beneficial effects of certain components of our diet and other compounds, that are consumed often by different cultures in various parts of the world, has become apparent. These âhealthyâ components of our diet are often referred to as nutraceuticals and they can prevent/suppress: aging, bacterial, fungal and viral infections, diabetes, inflammation, metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases and have other health-enhancing effects. Moreover, they are now often being investigated because of their anti-cancer properties/po…
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…
Oxidative stress and exceptional human longevity: Systematic review.
2020
Oxidative stress (OS) has been previously linked to the aging process, as have some diseases and geriatric syndromes as frailty and sarcopenia. The aim of the present study was to perform a systematic review on oxidative stress activity and extreme longevity in humans.We conducted a systematic literature review following the PRISMA guidelines. Observational studies assessing OS-biomarkers and/or antioxidants in long-lived individuals (97 years old or over) comparing them to those of one or more age groups, (at least one of which from comprising elderly subjects) were considered for inclusion. A narrative synthesis was planned. Quality of selected studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ott…
Targeting aging with functional food: Pasta with opuntia single-arm pilot study
2018
Interventions to extend life span represent the new perspective in aging investigation. Healthy dietary habits are important modifiable factors that can favor a healthy aging phenotype. Many studies have demonstrated benefits for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus resulting from the traditional Mediterranean foods. Opuntia Ficus Indica (OFI), widespread in the Mediterranean basin, belongs to the Cactaceae family. It is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Moreover, products containing extracts from OFI fruits or cladodes have been used to control obesity and other metabolic parameters, such as glycemia and lipid profile. The aim of this study was to analy…
Centenarians: An excellent example of resilience for successful ageing.
2020
Centenarians are remarkable not only because of their prolonged life, but also because they compress morbidity until the very last moments of their lives, thus being proposed as a model of successful, extraordinary ageing. From the medical viewpoint, centenarians do not escape the physiological decline or the age-related diseases or syndromes (i.e. frailty), but the rate of such processes is slow enough to be counterbalanced by their increased intrinsic capacity to respond to minor stresses of daily life (i.e. resilience). These new concepts are reviewed in this paper. Allostatic stresses lead to a chronic low-grade inflammation that has led to the proposal of the "inflammaging" theory of a…
Biology of frailty: Modulation of ageing genes and its importance to prevent age-associated loss of function
2016
Frailty is associated with loss of functional reserve as well as with the prediction of adverse events in the old population. The traditional criteria of frailty are based on five physical determinations described in the Cardiovascular Health Study. We propose that biological and genetic markers of frailty should be used to increase the predictive capacity of the established clinical indeces. In recent times, research for biological markers of frailty has gained impetus. Finding a biological markers with diagnostic and prognostic capacity would be a major milestone to identify frailty risk, and also pre-frailty status. In the first section of the manuscript, we review the available biomarke…
The free radical theory of frailty: Mechanisms and opportunities for interventions to promote successful aging
2019
The free radical theory of ageing has provided a framework of research into ageing based on Harman's idea that ageing was caused by damage produced by free radicals. However, several experiments have cast doubts on the general validity of the theory. The postulation of the free radical theory of frailty came from two basic facts: first that radicals not only act as damaging molecules, but also as signals to control cell function and second that on many occasions oxidative damage does not correlate with chronological but rather with unsuccessful ageing. Frailty is a geriatric concept by which an older person shows a lack of the feeling of wellbeing, unintentional weight loss, a relatively lo…