Modulation of miR-146b Expression during Aging and the Impact of Physical Activity on Its Expression and Chondrogenic Progenitors

The finding of molecules associated with aging is important for the prevention of chronic degenerative diseases and for longevity strategies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators involved in many biological processes and miR-146b-5p has been shown to be involved in different degenerative diseases. However, miR-146b-5p modulation has not been evaluated in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) commitment or during aging. Therefore, the modulation of miR-146b-5p in the commitment and differentiation of mesenchymal cells as well as during maturation and aging in zebrafish model were analyzed. In addition, circulating miR-146b-5p was evaluated in human subjects at different age ranges. Thus, the role of physical activity in the modulation of miR-146b-5p was also investigated. To achieve these aims, RT (real-time)-PCR, Western blot, cell transfections, and three-dimensional (3D) culture techniques were applied. Our findings show that miR-146b-5p expression drives MSCs to adipogenic differentiation and increases during zebrafish maturation and aging. In addition, miR-146b-5p expression is higher in females compared to males and it is associated with the aging in humans. Interestingly, we also observed that the physical activity of walking downregulates circulating miR-146b-5p levels in human females and increases the number of chondroprogenitors. In conclusion, miR-146b-5p can be considered an age-related marker and can represent a useful marker for identifying strategies, such as physical activity, aimed at counteracting the degenerative processes of aging

Effects of oral function on pupil response: a new view on bruxism pathophysiology

BACKGROUND: There are increasing evidences of the influence of the oropharyngeal stimulations on the autonomic nervous system and an easy approach to evaluate the balance between parasympathetic and sympathetic system is the measurement of the pupil diameter. The aim of this analytic observational study is to define the effects of clenching and swallowing on pupil diameter, and how an oral appliance can affect the outcome of these tasks, to establish their influence on the sympathetic-parasympathetic balance. METHODS: We measured the pupil diameter in 30 healthy subjects during clenching and swallowing, both with and without oral appliance. We compared the results with the mandibular rest position. The respective positions with and without oral appliance were also compared. RESULTS: Pupillometry showed a mydriatic effect of swallowing (rest=6.94 mm, swallowing=7.26 mm, p=0.04) and oral appliance, more relevant in scotopic conditions. On the contrary, clenching seemed to enhance miosis, especially in intense brightness condition (rest=3.95 mm, clenching=3.83 mm, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Swallowing and oral appliance facilitate the sympathetic system, while clenching activates the parasympathetic branch. We argue that probably the locus coeruleus is the main hub. These results could have practical implications in bruxism physiology, because it could be an attempt to counteract the activation of the sympathetic system

USE OF A NEW PELVIC DIARY TO DETECT UROGENITAL AND BOWEL DYSFUNCTIONS IN HEALTHY FEMALE ATHLETES

Introduction The frequency-volume chart or micturition diary records a patient\u2019s voiding pattern during normal daily activities. In some women it may be therapeutic as it provides them with insight into their bladder behaviour. Since there is no a standardized voiding diary, this deficiency also embraces the pelvic dysfunctions that, especially in the female gender, are often associated with lower urinary tract symptom, such as pelvic abnormalities, urogenital pain syndromes, changes in bowel habit, and genital dysfunctions. The aim of this study was to formulate a comprehensive pelvic diary testing it on a selected population of healthy young female athletes in order to discover possible hidden pelvic dysfunctions. Matherials and methods The pelvic diary was designed after a structured literature review carried out from 1966 to December 2010 using MEDLINE via PubMed. In order to test this 7-day pelvic diary in a healthy control group a pilot observational prospective cohort study was planned, involving healthy young female athletes. Moreover all participants had to fill out the following validated symptom and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) questionnaires: ICI-Q SF, OAB-q Short Form, P-QOL, Wexner score. Continuous variables were reported as the mean value and standard deviation (SD). Results From January 2012 to March 2012 a 7-day pelvic diary and the validated questionnaires were mailed to 422 female athletes by post. Replies were received from 284 of them. The mean age was 24.9 years with a mean body mass index of 20.9. Most of them were either volleyball (60.4%) or basketball (26.4%) players. Mean urinary frequency was 5.4 \ub1 1.7. Mean compiled days were 6.4 \ub1 1.5 days. Mean daily urine volume was 1119 \ub1 600.9. Overall 46 subjects reported urinary incontinence episodes and 66 urgency. Moreover 12 athletes reported voiding problems. Concerning bowel symptom, 18 had faecal incontinence (77.8% gas incontinence) and 6 complained of pain during defecation. Regarding sexual and genital problems, 6 complained of dyspareunia and 10 had a \u201cfeeling of heaviness in the vaginal area\u201d. The mean Wexner score was 6.01; the mean OAB-q SF score was 6.2. Concerning P-OQL domains we recorded the following mean score values: general health 30.1 \ub1 10.18; prolapse impact 15.8 \ub1 12.4; role limitation 15.2 \ub1 13.0; physical limitation 14.9 \ub1 12.8; personal relationships 6.5 \ub1 11.2; emotions 15.4 \ub1 14.3; sleep/energy 14.5 \ub1 12.6; severity measures 15.6 \ub1 14. Discussion In the literature at least three different forms of diary were described, namely the \u201cmicturition time chart\u201d, \u201cthe frequency volume chart\u201d, and \u201cthe bladder diary. Increasing either the complexity of the diary or duration of recording is associated with poorer compliance. Despite the responsiveness of our study population was only 58.7%, most of the women who replied have completed all seven days of our pelvic diary. The low responsiveness could be due to the large amount of questionnaires to be filled out. Our diary allowed us to discover hidden pelvic dysfunctions that would otherwise have remained unrecognized, because of their low HR-QoL impact. Conclusion Our comprehensive pelvic diary allowed us to detect hidden pelvic dysfunctions in young healthy women like validated symptom questionnaries. Because a validated urinary diary does not currently exist in order to corroborate our preliminary results future steps will be to compare our pelvic questionnaire against an adequate gold standard such as the above mentioned validated symptom questionnaires