Abstract
Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF-11) has been implicated in reverse effects of ageing on the central nervous system of humans. β2-microglobulin (β2-MG) has been reported to negatively regulate cognition. However, there is a lot of controversy about the role of GDF-11 and β2-MG in ageing and cognitive regulation. To examine the involvement of GDF-11 and β2-MG in the ageing process and cognitive dysfunction, a total of 51 healthy subjects and 41 elderly patients with different degrees of age-related cognitive impairment participated in the study. We measured plasma GDF-11 and β2-MG levels using ELISA and immunoturbidimetry, respectively. The results were statistically analyzed to evaluate the associations between levels of GDF-11 and β2-MG, and ageing and cognitive impairments. Circulating GDF-11 levels did not decline with age or correlate with ageing in healthy Chinese males. We did not detect differences in circulating GDF-11 levels amongst the healthy advanced age and four cognitive impairment groups. β2-MG levels increased with age, but there was no significant difference between healthy elderly males and advanced age males. Increased levels of β2-MG were observed in the dementia group compared with the healthy advanced age group. Our results suggest that circulating GDF-11 may not exert a protective effect during the ageing process or on cognitive function, and β2-MG may play a role in ageing and cognitive impairment. However, it is possible that the relatively small sample size in the present study affected the quality of the statistical analysis, and future studies are needed to further validate our findings.
Highlights
Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF-11) comprises 407 amino acids and is a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily that regulates diverse cellular processes [1]
41 participants were elderly people with cognitive impairments. Based on their clinical diagnosis, we divided the elderly people with cognitive impairments into four subgroups: vascular mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (Va-MCI), vascular dementia (VaD), Alzheimer’s disease cognitive impairment (Ad-MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease dementia (AdD), with 6, 9, 8, and 18 participants per group, respectively
Several lines of evidence indicate beneficial effects of GDF-11 on the brain and many other organs. recombinant GDF-11 (rGDF-11) treatment can partially recapitulate increases in cerebral blood vessel volume, which may ameliorate microvascular ischemic brain disease linked to cognitive decline in the elderly [25]
Summary
Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF-11) comprises 407 amino acids and is a member of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily that regulates diverse cellular processes [1]. In heterochronic parabiosis experiments, which can rejuvenate several organs in the older organism of the pair, GDF-11 was identified as a rejuvenation factor [5,6]. Injecting recombinant GDF-11 (rGDF-11) into aged animals recapitulates the effects of heterochronic parabiosis [7]. It was shown that GDF-11 exerts rejuvenating effects on the central nervous system of mice by reversing age-related dysfunction in neuronal stem cells c 2017 The Author(s).
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