Neurogenesis in the aging brain

Neurogenesis, or the birth of new neural cells, was thought to occur only in the developing nervous system and a fixed neuronal population in the adult brain was believed to be necessary to maintain the functional stability of adult brain circuitry. However, recent studies have demonstrated that neurogenesis does indeed continue into and throughout adult life in discrete regions of the central nervous systems (CNS) of all mammals, including humans. Although neurogenesis may contribute to the ability of the adult brain to function normally and be induced in response to cerebral diseases for self-repair, this nevertheless declines with advancing age. Understanding the basic biology of neural stem cells and the molecular and cellular regulation mechanisms of neurogenesis in young and aged brain will allow us to modulate cell replacement processes in the adult brain for the maintenance of healthy brain tissues and for repair of disease states in the elderly

An evaluation of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic 16 days after the end of social confinement in Hungary

Differences in the rigor of confinement and other preventive policies between countries and the speed and degree with which these measures are relaxed affect both the public health of COVID-19 and its social and economic impact. In this Special Issue, Merkeley et al. describe the results of a comprehensive large-scale survey of present and past SARS-CoV-2 infection in Hungary after the relaxation of containment measures. Their results suggest that the implementation of effective preventive policies in Hungary effectively reduced COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates. The data provided may inform decisions by public health officials worldwide, both with regards to the implementation of preventive societal measures and the formulation of exit strategies. Data in this report also emphasize the importance of sustainable strategies aimed to shield older adults from potential SARS-CoV-2 infection.Fil: Galvan, Veronica. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Estados UnidosFil: Quarleri, Jorge Fabian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentin

Editorial: Comparison of antibody and T cell responses elicited by BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm) and BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in healthy adult humans

Vaccine development has become the main tool for reducing COVID-19 cases and the severity of the disease. Comparative analyses of adaptive immunity generated by different vaccines platforms are urgently needed. Multiple studies have compared different vaccines using similar platforms; however, comparative analyses of vaccines across different platforms are lacking. This Editorial provides a summary and commentary on the main findings reported in the observational and longitudinal study by Vályi-Nagy et al. (Geroscience 43:2321) that compared the adaptive (humoral and T cell-mediated) immune responses elicited by Sinopharm and BNT162b2 vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 virus among 57 healthy adult Hungarian volunteers.Fil: Galvan, Veronica. Oklahoma State University; Estados UnidosFil: Quarleri, Jorge Fabian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentin

Indice de masa corporal y desarrollo psicomotriz en niños de la institución educativa Nº 157 de Palca - Tarma 2022

El estado nutricional en los niños debe de seguir siendo una preocupación en nuestros días ya que esta va a repercutir en el desarrollo integral del niño, en este caso en el desarrollo motor grueso y fino, por lo cual nuestra investigación lleva como título “Índice de masa corporal y desarrollo psicomotor en niños de la I. E N° 157 de Palca-Tarma 2022”, tuvo como propósito determinar la relación entre el Índice de masa corporal y desarrollo psicomotor en niños de la I. E N° 157 de Palca-Tarma 2022. Metodología: Se empleó el método científico con un enfoque cuantitativo, de tipo básica y nivel correlacional, se empleó para la variable índice de masa corporal la talla y peso, registrados en una lista de cotejo y para la variable desarrollo psicomotor se empleó el test TEPSI en los 90 niños de la I.E N° 157. Resultados: El 65,56% presento bajo peso, 4,44% presento un IMC normal, el 20% presento sobrepeso, el 10% presento obesidad, además el 16,7% presento un desarrollo normal, el 32,22% presento un retraso del desarrollo y el 51,11% presento riesgo de desarrollo. Conclusión: Se determinó la relación entre el índice de masa corporal y el desarrollo psicomotor en niños de la I.E N°157 de Palca - Tarma 2022. Siendo el Chi2 de 8,990 para un grado de libertad y el p valor = 0,000, entonces 0,000 < 0,05, en consecuencia, se rechaza la hipótesis nula (H0) y se acepta la hipótesis alterna (H1), con un nivel de significancia de α = 0.05

Rapamycin Rescues Vascular, Metabolic and Learning Deficits in Apolipoprotein E4 Transgenic Mice with Pre-Symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease

Apolipoprotein E ɛ4 allele is a common susceptibility gene for late-onset Alzheimer\u27s disease. Brain vascular and metabolic deficits can occur in cognitively normal apolipoprotein E ɛ4 carriers decades before the onset of Alzheimer\u27s disease. The goal of this study was to determine whether early intervention using rapamycin could restore neurovascular and neurometabolic functions, and thus impede pathological progression of Alzheimer\u27s disease-like symptoms in pre-symptomatic Apolipoprotein E ɛ4 transgenic mice. Using in vivo, multimodal neuroimaging, we found that apolipoprotein E ɛ4 mice treated with rapamycin had restored cerebral blood flow, blood–brain barrier integrity and glucose metabolism, compared to age- and gender-matched wild-type controls. The preserved vasculature and metabolism were associated with amelioration of incipient learning deficits. We also found that rapamycin restored the levels of the proinflammatory cyclophilin A in vasculature, which may contribute to the preservation of cerebrovascular function in the apolipoprotein E ɛ4 transgenics. Our results show that rapamycin improves functional outcomes in this mouse model and may have potential as an effective intervention to block progression of vascular, metabolic and early cognitive deficits in human Apolipoprotein E ɛ4 carriers. As rapamycin is FDA-approved and neuroimaging is readily used in humans, the results of the present study may provide the basis for future Alzheimer\u27s disease intervention studies in human subjects

Inhibition of mTOR by Rapamycin Abolishes Cognitive Deficits and Reduces Amyloid-β Levels in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

extends lifespan in mice, possibly by delaying aging. Whether inhibition of the mTOR pathway would delay or prevent age-associated disease such as AD remained to be determined. and block or delay AD in mice. As expected from the inhibition of mTOR, autophagy was increased in neurons of rapamycin-treated transgenic, but not in non-transgenic, PDAPP mice, suggesting that the reduction in Aβ and the improvement in cognitive function are due in part to increased autophagy, possibly as a response to high levels of Aβ.Our data suggest that inhibition of mTOR by rapamycin, an intervention that extends lifespan in mice, can slow or block AD progression in a transgenic mouse model of the disease. Rapamycin, already used in clinical settings, may be a potentially effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of AD

Chronic Rapamycin Restores Brain Vascular Integrity and Function Through NO Synthase Activation and Improves Memory in Symptomatic Mice Modeling Alzheimer’s Disease

Vascular pathology is a major feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. We recently showed that chronic administration of the target-of-rapamycin (TOR) inhibitor rapamycin, which extends lifespan and delays aging, halts the progression of AD-like disease in transgenic human (h)APP mice modeling AD when administered before disease onset. Here we demonstrate that chronic reduction of TOR activity by rapamycin treatment started after disease onset restored cerebral blood flow (CBF) and brain vascular density, reduced cerebral amyloid angiopathy and microhemorrhages, decreased amyloid burden, and improved cognitive function in symptomatic hAPP (AD) mice. Like acetylcholine (ACh), a potent vasodilator, acute rapamycin treatment induced the phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) and NO release in brain endothelium. Administration of the NOS inhibitor L-NG-Nitroarginine methyl ester reversed vasodilation as well as the protective effects of rapamycin on CBF and vasculature integrity, indicating that rapamycin preserves vascular density and CBF in AD mouse brains through NOS activation. Taken together, our data suggest that chronic reduction of TOR activity by rapamycin blocked the progression of AD-like cognitive and histopathological deficits by preserving brain vascular integrity and function. Drugs that inhibit the TOR pathway may have promise as a therapy for AD and possibly for vascular dementias

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries