Optimistic orientation is linked to several benefits, including better-coping skills, lower stress levels, and better physical health. This study aimed to identify whether optimistic orientation is ...associated with physical frailty and whether it is related to each component of physical frailty.
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 2019 survey data from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study, which included 1203 participants aged 70–84 years. Frailty was defined using the Fried frailty phenotype and optimistic orientation was assessed using the Life Orientation Test-Revised.
Optimistic orientation and frailty were negatively correlated (r = −0.214, p < 0.001). After adjusting for several variables, the relationship between optimistic orientation and physical frailty was only significant in women (odds ratio OR = 2.960, 95 % confidence interval CI:2 1.375–6.371). Regarding the relationship with the five components of the physical frailty phenotype, the least optimistic women were more exhausted (OR = 1.829, 95 % CI: 1.224–2.732) and weaker (OR = 1.955, 95 % CI: 1.197–3.192) after adjusting for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, education, marital status, social activity, living alone, family income, cognitive state, nutritional status, comorbidity, and depression.
Optimistic orientation was negatively associated with physical frailty only in women. Among the components of physical frailty, exhaustion and weakness are associated with optimistic orientation in women.
•Optimistic orientation was associated with physical frailty only in Korean older women.•Exhaustion and weakness were associated with optimistic women.
Luteolin, one of the most common flavonoids present in many types of natural products, possesses diverse biological properties including anti-oxidant activity. In this study, we investigated ...neuroprotective effect of luteolin and its underlying signaling pathways using primary cultured rat cortical cells. Luteolin was demonstrated to attenuate H2O2- or xanthine/xanthine oxidase-induced oxidative damage and generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). It enhanced the phosphorylation of Bad at Ser112 and attenuated H2O2-induced activation of caspase 3, indicating anti-apoptotic action. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay confirmed this finding, showing inhibition of H2O2-induced DNA fragmentation. We also found that luteolin significantly up-regulated the expression of anti-oxidant enzyme heme oxygenase (HO)-1. Treatment with tin protoporphyrin IX, a selective HO-1 inhibitor, abolished neuroprotective and anti-apoptotic effects of luteolin, suggesting a critical role of HO-1 up-regulation. It was also shown to increase the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 MAPK and c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and Akt. Treatment of the cells with specific inhibitors including SB203580, SP600125, and LY294002 suppressed the luteolin-induced HO-1 expression, suggesting the involvement of p38 MAPK, JNK, and Akt in HO-1 induction. In contrast, HO-1 expression was not reduced by U0126, implying that ERK may not be directly involved in HO-1 induction. These results indicate that luteolin exhibits neuroprotective effect through the inhibition of ROS and apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, up-regulation of HO-1 expression via p38 MAPK, JNK and Akt may contribute, at least in part, to luteolin-mediated neuroprotection. Based on these findings, luteolin may serve as a potential intervention for neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress.
Clinical and research interest in sarcopenia has burgeoned internationally, Asia included. The Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) 2014 consensus defined sarcopenia as "age-related loss of ...muscle mass, plus low muscle strength, and/or low physical performance" and specified cutoffs for each diagnostic component; research in Asia consequently flourished, prompting this update. AWGS 2019 retains the previous definition of sarcopenia but revises the diagnostic algorithm, protocols, and some criteria: low muscle strength is defined as handgrip strength <28 kg for men and <18 kg for women; criteria for low physical performance are 6-m walk <1.0 m/s, Short Physical Performance Battery score ≤9, or 5-time chair stand test ≥12 seconds. AWGS 2019 retains the original cutoffs for height-adjusted muscle mass: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, <7.0 kg/m
in men and <5.4 kg/m
in women; and bioimpedance, <7.0 kg/m
in men and <5.7 kg/m
in women. In addition, the AWGS 2019 update proposes separate algorithms for community vs hospital settings, which both begin by screening either calf circumference (<34 cm in men, <33 cm in women), SARC-F (≥4), or SARC-CalF (≥11), to facilitate earlier identification of people at risk for sarcopenia. Although skeletal muscle strength and mass are both still considered fundamental to a definitive clinical diagnosis, AWGS 2019 also introduces "possible sarcopenia," defined by either low muscle strength or low physical performance only, specifically for use in primary health care or community-based health promotion, to enable earlier lifestyle interventions. Although defining sarcopenia by body mass index-adjusted muscle mass instead of height-adjusted muscle mass may predict adverse outcomes better, more evidence is needed before changing current recommendations. Lifestyle interventions, especially exercise and nutritional supplementation, prevail as mainstays of treatment. Further research is needed to investigate potential long-term benefits of lifestyle interventions, nutritional supplements, or pharmacotherapy for sarcopenia in Asians.
This paper presents the design and implementation of an analog signal processor (ASP) ASIC for portable ECG monitoring systems. The ASP ASIC performs four major functionalities: 1) ECG signal ...extraction with high resolution, 2) ECG signal feature extraction, 3) adaptive sampling ADC for the compression of ECG signals, 4) continuous-time electrode-tissue impedance monitoring for signal integrity monitoring. These functionalities enable the development of wireless ECG monitoring systems that have significantly lower power consumption yet that are more capable than their predecessors. The ASP has been implemented in 0.5 μm CMOS process and consumes 30 μW from a 2 V supply. The noise density of the ECG readout channel is 85 nV/√Hz and the CMRR is better that 105 dB. The adaptive sampling ADC is capable of compressing the ECG data by a factor of 7 and the heterodyne chopper readout extracts the features of the ECG signals. Combination of these two features leads to a factor 4 reduction in the power consumption of a wireless ECG monitoring system. Furthermore, the proposed continuous-time impedance monitoring circuit enables the monitoring of the signal integrity.
Oxidative stress is induced by the accumulation of free radicals, resulting in an imbalanced cellular redox state, which has been implicated in a variety of human diseases. Dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol ...(DHCA), a lignan compound isolated from Cucurbita moschata, has previously been reported to contain anti-adipogenic and anti-lipogenic effects on 3T3-L1 cells and primary MEFs (Abraham and Kappas, 2008). In this study, it was tested whether DHCA could affect the expression of HO-1, using Raw264.7 mouse macrophage cell line. DHCA increased the protein and RNA levels of HO-1 and upregulated its promoter activity. Data from transient transfection assays indicated that ARE located in the E1 region of the HO-1 promoter are important in this DHCA-mediated induction of HO-1 expression. DHCA was also shown to enhance the nuclear translocation and binding of Nrf2 to the respective DNA sequences. The upregulation of HO-1 expression by DHCA was also observed in primary macrophages derived from wild type animals, but not in those from Nrf2 KO mice. Effects of DHCA on HO-1 and Nrf2 were reduced when cells were treated with an AMPK inhibitor, Compound C, but not by PI3K/Akt or MAPK inhibitors. Data from an experiment using a specific siRNA or chemical inhibitor for HO-1 suggested that the DHCA-mediated induction of the HO-1 protein could suppress the LPS-stimulated production of NO. Taken together, our data suggest that DHCA induces the expression of HO-1 by controlling its promoter activity through the AMPK–Nrf2 pathway, eventually leading to the reduction of NO production, and may thus have potential as an effective antioxidant.
•Dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (DHCA) induced the expression of heme oxygenase (HO)-1.•The AMPK–Nrf2 pathway is critically involved in the DHCA-mediated induction of HO-1.•DHCA increased the expression of HO-1, Gclc and Gclm in primary macrophages.•DHCA-mediated induction of HO-1 contributed to the suppression of NO production.
During the peripheral nerve regeneration process, a variety of neurotrophic factors play roles in nerve repair by acting on neuronal or non-neuronal cells. In this report, we investigated the role(s) ...of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor, c-met, in peripheral nerve regeneration. When mice were subjected to sciatic nerve injury, the HGF protein level was highly increased at the injured and distal sites. The level of both total and phosphorylated c-met was also highly upregulated, but almost exclusively in Schwann cells (SCs) distal from the injury site. When mice were treated with a c-met inhibitor, PHA-665752, myelin thickness and axon regrowth were decreased indicating that re-myelination was hindered. HGF promoted the migration and proliferation of cultured SCs, and also induced the expression of various genes such as GDNF and LIF, presumably by activating ERK pathways. Furthermore, exogenous supply of HGF around the injury site, by intramuscular injection of a plasmid DNA expressing human HGF, enhanced the myelin thickness and axon diameter in injured nerves. Taken together, our results indicate that HGF and c-met play important roles in Schwann cell-mediated nerve repair, and also that HGF gene transfer may provide a useful tool for treating peripheral neuropathy.
Synthetic cathinones are components of "bath salts" and have physical and psychologic side effects, including hypertension, paranoia, and hallucinations. Here, we report interactions of 20 "bath ...salt" components with human dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine transporters human dopamine transporter (hDAT), human serotonin transporter (hSERT), and human norepinephrine transporter (hNET), respectively heterologously expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. Transporter inhibitors had nanomolar to micromolar affinities (K
values) at radioligand binding sites, with relative affinities of hDAT>hNET>hSERT for α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone (α-PPP), α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone, α-pyrrolidinohexiophenone, 1-phenyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-heptanone, 3,4-methylenedioxy-α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone, 3,4-methylenedioxy-α-pyrrolidinobutiophenone, 4-methyl-α-pyrrolidinopropiophenone, α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, 4-methoxy-α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, α-pyrrolidinopentiothiophenone (alpha-PVT), and α-methylaminovalerophenone, and hDAT>hSERT>hNET for methylenedioxypentedrone. Increasing the α-carbon chain length increased the affinity and potency of the α-pyrrolidinophenones. Uptake inhibitors had relative potencies of hDAT>hNET>hSERT except α-PPP and α-PVT, which had highest potencies at hNET. They did not induce
Hneurotransmitter release. Substrates can enter presynaptic neurons via transporters, and the substrates methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine are neurotoxic. We determined that 3-fluoro-, 4-bromo-, 4-chloro-methcathinone, and 4-fluoroamphetamine were substrates at all three transporters; 5,6-methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane (MDAI) and 4-methylethcathinone (4-MEC) were substrates primarily at hSERT and hNET; and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylcathinone (ethylone) and 5-methoxy-methylone were substrates only at hSERT and induced
Hneurotransmitter release. Significant correlations between potencies for inhibition of uptake and for inducing release were observed for these and additional substrates. The excellent correlation of efficacy at stimulating release versus K
/IC
ratios suggested thresholds of binding/uptake ratios above which compounds were likely to be substrates. Based on their potencies at hDAT, most of these compounds have potential for abuse and addiction. 4-Bromomethcathinone, 4-MEC, 5-methoxy-methylone, ethylone, and MDAI, which have higher potencies at hSERT than hDAT, may have empathogen psychoactivity.
Red ginseng has long been used as a traditional medicine in many East Asian countries including Korea. It is known to exhibit various pharmacological effects, including anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, ...anti-stress and anti-diabetes activities. To further explore its actions, the present study evaluated effects of Korean red ginseng (KRG) extract on neuronal injury induced by various types of insults using primary cultured rat cortical cells. KRG extract inhibited neuronal damage and generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by excitatory amino acids, such as glutamate and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), or by Aβ(25–35). To elucidate possible mechanism(s) by which KRG extract exerts neuroprotective action, its effects on apoptosis and apoptosis-related signaling molecules in neurons were assessed. KRG extract markedly increased phosphorylation of Bad at Ser 112 and inhibited Bax expression and caspase 3 activity. It also inhibited DNA fragmentation induced by NMDA or Aβ(25–35). These results indicate that KRG extract protects cultured neurons from excitotoxicity and Aβ(25–35)-induced toxicity through inhibition of ROS generation and apoptotic cell death. In addition, KRG extract inhibited β-secretase activity, implying that it may reduce Aβ peptide formation. Taken together, these findings suggest that KRG extract may be beneficial for the prevention and/or treatment of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease.
Background As the aging population in the United States continues to increase rapidly, preserving the mobility and independence of older adults becomes increasingly critical for enabling aging in ...place successfully. While personal vehicular transport remains a popular choice among this demographic due to its provision of independence and control over their lives, age-related changes may heighten the risk of common driving errors and diminish driving abilities. Objective This study aims to investigate the driving practices of older adults and their efforts to maintain safe and confident driving habits. Specifically, we sought to identify the factors that positively and negatively influence older adults’ driving performance and confidence, as well as the existing efforts put into sustaining their driving abilities. Methods We recruited 20 adults aged ≥65 years who remained active drivers during the recruitment from the greater New York area. Then, we conducted semistructured interviews with them to examine their perceptions, needs, and challenges regarding safe and confident driving. Results Our findings uncovered a notable disparity between older adults’ self-perceived driving skills and the challenges they face, particularly caused by age-related limitations and health conditions such as vision and memory declines and medication routines. Drawing on these findings, we proposed strategies to bridge this gap and empower older adults to drive safely and confidently, including fostering a realistic understanding of their capabilities, encouraging open dialogue regarding their driving, encouraging regular assessments, and increasing awareness of available resources. Conclusions This study uncovered a noticeable disparity between the perceived driving competence of older adults and the actual challenges they confront while driving. This divergence underscores a significant need for better support beyond the existing aid available to preserve older adults’ driving skills. We hope that our recommendations will offer valuable insights for practitioners and scholars committed to enhancing the overall well-being and quality of life for older adults as they age in their homes.
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