Association of Accelerometry-Measured Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Events in Mobility-Limited Older Adults: The LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) Study.

BACKGROUND:Data are sparse regarding the value of physical activity (PA) surveillance among older adults-particularly among those with mobility limitations. The objective of this study was to examine longitudinal associations between objectively measured daily PA and the incidence of cardiovascular events among older adults in the LIFE (Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders) study. METHODS AND RESULTS:Cardiovascular events were adjudicated based on medical records review, and cardiovascular risk factors were controlled for in the analysis. Home-based activity data were collected by hip-worn accelerometers at baseline and at 6, 12, and 24 months postrandomization to either a physical activity or health education intervention. LIFE study participants (n=1590; age 78.9±5.2 [SD] years; 67.2% women) at baseline had an 11% lower incidence of experiencing a subsequent cardiovascular event per 500 steps taken per day based on activity data (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.96; P=0.001). At baseline, every 30 minutes spent performing activities ≥500 counts per minute (hazard ratio, 0.75; confidence interval, 0.65-0.89 [P=0.001]) were also associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular events. Throughout follow-up (6, 12, and 24 months), both the number of steps per day (per 500 steps; hazard ratio, 0.90, confidence interval, 0.85-0.96 [P=0.001]) and duration of activity ≥500 counts per minute (per 30 minutes; hazard ratio, 0.76; confidence interval, 0.63-0.90 [P=0.002]) were significantly associated with lower cardiovascular event rates. CONCLUSIONS:Objective measurements of physical activity via accelerometry were associated with cardiovascular events among older adults with limited mobility (summary score >10 on the Short Physical Performance Battery) both using baseline and longitudinal data. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01072500

Rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3, and TREM2 implicate microglial-mediated innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease

We identified rare coding variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a 3-stage case-control study of 85,133 subjects. In stage 1, 34,174 samples were genotyped using a whole-exome microarray. In stage 2, we tested associated variants (P<1×10-4) in 35,962 independent samples using de novo genotyping and imputed genotypes. In stage 3, an additional 14,997 samples were used to test the most significant stage 2 associations (P<5×10-8) using imputed genotypes. We observed 3 novel genome-wide significant (GWS) AD associated non-synonymous variants; a protective variant in PLCG2 (rs72824905/p.P522R, P=5.38×10-10, OR=0.68, MAFcases=0.0059, MAFcontrols=0.0093), a risk variant in ABI3 (rs616338/p.S209F, P=4.56×10-10, OR=1.43, MAFcases=0.011, MAFcontrols=0.008), and a novel GWS variant in TREM2 (rs143332484/p.R62H, P=1.55×10-14, OR=1.67, MAFcases=0.0143, MAFcontrols=0.0089), a known AD susceptibility gene. These protein-coding changes are in genes highly expressed in microglia and highlight an immune-related protein-protein interaction network enriched for previously identified AD risk genes. These genetic findings provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated innate immune response contributes directly to AD development

Metabolome-Wide Association Study of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma

PURPOSE. To determine if primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients can be differentiated from controls based on metabolic characteristics. METHODS. We used ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry with C18 liquid chromatography for metabolomic analysis on frozen plasma samples from 72 POAG patients and 72 controls. Metabolome-wide Spearman correlation was performed to select differentially expressed metabolites (DEM) correlated with POAG. We corrected P values for multiple testing using Benjamini and Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR). Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was used to depict the relationship between participants and DEM. Differentially expressed metabolites were matched to the METLIN metabolomics database; both DEM and metabolites significantly correlating with DEM were analyzed using MetaboAnalyst to identify metabolic pathways altered in POAG. RESULTS. Of the 2440 m/z (mass/charge) features recovered after filtering, 41 differed between POAG cases and controls at FDR ¼ 0.05. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed these DEM to associate into eight clusters; three of these clusters contained the majority of the DEM and included palmitoylcarnitine, hydroxyergocalciferol, and high-resolution METLIN matches to sphingolipids, other vitamin D-related metabolites, and terpenes. MetaboAnalyst also indicated likely alteration in steroid biosynthesis pathways. CONCLUSIONS. Global ultrahigh resolution metabolomics emphasized the importance of altered lipid metabolism in POAG. The results suggest specific metabolic processes, such as those involving palmitoylcarnitine, sphingolipids, vitamin D-related compounds, and steroid precursors, may contribute to POAG status and merit more detailed study with targeted methods

Supporting Cell Division Is Not Required for Regeneration of Auditory Hair Cells After Ototoxic Injury In Vitro

In chickens, nonsensory supporting cells divide and regenerate auditory hair cells after injury. Anatomical evidence suggests that supporting cells can also transdifferentiate into hair cells without dividing. In this study, we characterized an organ culture model to study auditory hair cell regeneration, and we used these cultures to test if direct transdifferentiation alone can lead to significant hair cell regeneration. Control cultures (organs from posthatch chickens maintained without streptomycin) showed complete hair cell loss in the proximal (high-frequency) region by 5 days. In contrast, a 2-day treatment with streptomycin induced loss of hair cells from all regions by 3 days. Hair cell regeneration proceeded in culture, with the time course of supporting cell division and hair cell differentiation generally resembling in vivo patterns. The degree of supporting cell division depended upon the presence of streptomycin, the epithelial region, the type of culture media, and serum concentration. On average, 87% of the regenerated hair cells lacked the cell division marker BrdU despite its continuous presence, suggesting that most hair cells were regenerated via direct transdifferentiation. Addition of the DNA polymerase inhibitor aphidicolin to culture media prevented supporting cell division, but numerous hair cells were regenerated nonetheless. These hair cells showed signs of functional maturation, including stereociliary bundles and rapid uptake of FM1-43. These observations demonstrate that direct transdifferentiation is a significant mechanism of hair cell regeneration in the chicken auditory after streptomycin damage in vitro

Differential regulation of transition zone and centriole proteins contributes to ciliary base diversity

Cilia are evolutionarily conserved structures with many sensory and motility-related functions. The ciliary base, composed of the basal body and the transition zone, is critical for cilia assembly and function, but its contribution to cilia diversity remains unknown. Hence, we generated a high-resolution structural and biochemical atlas of the ciliary base of four functionally distinct neuronal and sperm cilia types within an organism, Drosophila melanogaster. We uncovered a common scaffold and diverse structures associated with different localization of 15 evolutionarily conserved components. Furthermore, CEP290 (also known as NPHP6) is involved in the formation of highly diverse transition zone links. In addition, the cartwheel components SAS6 and ANA2 (also known as STIL) have an underappreciated role in basal body elongation, which depends on BLD10 (also known as CEP135). The differential expression of these cartwheel components contributes to diversity in basal body length. Our results offer a plausible explanation to how mutations in conserved ciliary base components lead to tissue-specific diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio