Physiological Degeneration Research Articles

Effect of advancing age on event-related potentials (P300) measures

BackgroundAging has been defined as a persistent deterioration in the age-specific fitness components of an organism, attributed to internal physiological degeneration. Cognitive abilities, encompassing attention, memory, executive cognitive functions, language, and visuospatial capacities, are distinctive domains affected by aging. Numerous studies have documented measurable effects on these cognitive domains, indicating a discernible decline in their functionality with advancing age. Cognitive impairment often unfolds insidiously, remaining clinically silent for extended periods. Age, as a critical factor, exerts a notable influence on P300 measures.ResultSpearman rank correlation was calculated between age and P300 measures. In group 1A (age range of 10–20 years), we found a strong positive correlation between age and amplitude of P300 (r = 0.96, p < 0.001), while a weak correlation was found between latency and age. In group IB (age range: 21–40 years), a moderate negative correlation (r = − 0.43, p < 0.05) was found between age and amplitude of P300, while a strong positive correlation (r = 0.87, p < 0.001) was obtained between age and latency. In group 2A (age: 41–60 years), it was found that amplitude has a strong negative correlation (r = − 0.97, p < 0.001) with age, while latency has a strong positive correlation (r = 0.89, p < 0.001). In group 2B (age: 61–80 years), it was found that amplitude has a strong negative correlation (r = − 0.93, p < 0.001) with age, while latency has a strong positive correlation (r = 0.95, p < 0.001).ConclusionIn this study, it is concluded that amplitude of P300 decreases and latency increases with increasing age.

Correlations between Gustatory, Olfactory, Cognitive Function, and Age in Healthy Women.

Aging is a progressive physiological degeneration associated with a decline in chemosensory processes and cognitive abilities and a reduction in synaptic plasticity. The biological bases of ageing are still not completely understood, and many theories have been proposed. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of age-related changes affecting the chemosensory function (gustatory and olfactory) and general cognitive abilities and their potential associations in women. To this aim, 319 women (the age ranging from 18 to 92 years) were recruited and divided into four different age groups: 18-34 years, 35-49 years, 50-64 years, and ≥65 years. Our results confirmed that in women, gustatory, olfactory, and cognitive functions decline, though in a different manner during aging. Olfactory and cognitive function showed a slight decline along the first three age classes, with a dramatic decrease after age 65 years, while gustatory function decreased more gradually. Olfactory and gustatory deficits may have a high degree of predictivity for general cognitive function as well as for specific cognitive subdomains such as visuospatial/executive abilities, language, memory, and attention. Our study highlighted the importance of using chemosensory assessments for the early diagnosis of cognitive decline and for the development of appropriate personalized risk prevention strategies.

Degeneration Theory and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov

I am here interested in presenting a comparative analysis between the strand of thought known as ‘Degeneration Theory’ and Dostoevsky’s last major novel, The Brothers Karamazov. I will provide a brief contextualization about the influence of Degeneration Theory on Russian thought, postulating that the principal Russian preoccupation concerning degenerate attitudes – above all in Dostoevsky - consists in the disease of moral nihilism. I proceed by outlining the criminal type in The Brothers Karamazov by focalizing my inquiry around the figure of the illegitimate epileptic brother Smerdjakov. My main arguments around the question of social and physiological degeneration will be developed in the subsection devoted to the relationship between poverty and children, whose humility, it is argued, represents Dostoevsky’s answer to the death of God and the moral bankruptcy enacted by nihilistic tendencies. In the third segment I will analyse the maddening outcomes of this disease in my discussion of Ivan Karamazov. Lastly, I will venture into a more unreserved discussion about the purported sequel to The Brothers Karamazov. This study seeks to emphasize the importance in the relationship between characters and the God question, ultimately claiming that for Dostoevsky physical degeneration is deployed as a physiological counterpart for the chief concern of many degenerationist narratives: the spiritual degradation of the individual soul and of the integrity of civilization.

'A sad inheritance of misery': the cultural life of hereditary scrofula in eighteenth-century England.

This essay argues that scrofula was one of several disorders, including gout, rickets, and venereal disease, that were 'rebranded' as hereditary in response to broader cultural changes that took place during the Restoration and eighteenth century in England. While the purposes of scrofula's recategorisation were more political than medical, they resulted in this heretofore relatively obscure childhood ailment assuming a new prominence within both medical and popular discourses of the period. Scrofula became both emblem and proof of the links between sexual promiscuity, financial profligacy, and physiological degeneration, its symbolic status reinforced by the legal and moral language used to model processes of hereditary transmission. By likening the inheritance of scrofula to the inheritance of original sin-or, more commonly, to the inheritance of a 'docked entail' or damaged estate-eighteenth-century writers and artists not only made this non-inherited ailment into a sign of catastrophic hereditary decline; they also paved the way for scrofula to be identified as a disease of aristocratic vice, even though its association with crowded, unsanitary living conditions likely made it more common among the poor. By the same token, financial models of disease inheritance facilitated a bias toward paternal transmission, with scrofula often portrayed as passing, like a title or an estate, from father to son rather than from mother to daughter.

Hearing and Ageing.

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), or presbycusis, occurs in most mammals, humans included, with a different age of onset and magnitude of loss. It is associated with two major symptoms: loss of sensitivity to sound, especially for high pitches, and a reduced ability to understand speech in background noise. This phenomenon involves both the peripheral structures of the inner ear and the central acoustic pathways. Several mechanisms have been identified as pro-ageing in the human cochlea. The main one is the oxidative stress. The inner ear physiological degeneration can be affected by both intrinsic conditions, such as genetic predisposition, and extrinsic ones, such as noise exposure. The magnitude of neuronal loss precedes and exceeds that of inner hair cell loss, which is also less important than the loss of outer hair cells. Patients with HL often develop atrophy of the temporal lobe (auditory cortex) and brain gliosis can contribute to the development of a central hearing loss. The presence of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on the MRI, which is radiologic representation of brain gliosis, can justify a central HL due to demyelination in the superior auditory pathways. Recently, the presence of WMHs has been correlated with the inability to correctly understand words in elderly with normal auditory thresholds.

Nietzsche’s Moral Psychology

Nietzsche’s Moral Psychology

Risk of pre-existing hyponatremia and mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury across age groups

Traumatic brain injurySodiumClinical outcomes.

Proteomic comparison between physiological degeneration and needle puncture model of disc generation disease

BackgroundThe completeness of the intervertebral disc proteome is fundamental to the integrity and functionality of the intervertebral disc.MethodsThe 20 experimental rats were placed into two groups randomly, normal group (NG) and acupuncture pathological degeneration group-2 weeks (APDG-2w). The ten 24-month-old rats were grouped into physiological degeneration group (PDG). Magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray examination, histological staining (hematoxylin & eosin, safranin-O cartilage, and alcian blue staining), and immunohistochemical examination were carried out for assessing the degree of disc degradation. Intervertebral disc was collected, and protein composition was determined by LC- MS, followed by bioinformatic analysis including significance analysis, subcellular localization prediction, protein domain prediction, GO function and KEGG pathway analysis, and protein interaction network construction. LC-PRM was done for protein quantification.ResultsPhysiological degeneration and especially needle puncture decreased T2 signal intensity and intervertebral disc height. Results from hematoxylin & eosin, safranin-O, and alcian blue staining revealed that the annulus fibrosus apparently showed the wavy and collapsed fibrocartilage lamellas in APDG-2w and PDG groups. The contents of the nucleus pulposus were decreased in physiological degeneration group and APDG-2w group compared with NG. Results from immunohistochemical analysis suggested the degeneration of intervertebral disc and inflammation in APDG-2w and PDG groups. The protein composition and expression between needle puncture rat models and the physiological degeneration group showed significant difference.ConclusionsOur studies produced point-reference datasets of normal rats, physiological degeneration rats, and needle puncture rat models, which is beneficial to subsequent pathological studies. There is differential expression of protein expression in degenerative discs with aging and acupuncture, which may be used as a potential discriminating index for different intervertebral degenerations.

Antiaging Mechanism of Natural Compounds: Effects on Autophagy and Oxidative Stress.

Aging is a natural biological process that manifests as the progressive loss of function in cells, tissues, and organs. Because mechanisms that are meant to promote cellular longevity tend to decrease in effectiveness with age, it is no surprise that aging presents as a major risk factor for many diseases such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and diabetes. Oxidative stress, an imbalance between the intracellular antioxidant and overproduction of reactive oxygen species, is known to promote the aging process. Autophagy, a major pathway for protein turnover, is considered as one of the hallmarks of aging. Given the progressive physiologic degeneration and increased risk for disease that accompanies aging, many studies have attempted to discover new compounds that may aid in the reversal of the aging process. Here, we summarize the antiaging mechanism of natural or naturally derived synthetic compounds involving oxidative stress and autophagy. These compounds include: 2-cyano-3,12-dioxoolean-1,9-dien-28-oic acid (CDDO) derivatives (synthetic triterpenoids derived from naturally occurring oleanolic acid), caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, the active ingredient in honey bee propolis), xanthohumol (a prenylated flavonoid identified in the hops plant), guggulsterone (a plant steroid found in the resin of the guggul plant), resveratrol (a natural phenol abundantly found in grape), and sulforaphane (a sulfur-containing compound found in cruciferous vegetables).

A New Landscape of Human Dental Aging: Causes, Consequences, and Intervention Avenues.

Aging is accompanied by physical dysfunction and physiologic degeneration that occurs over an individual's lifetime. Human teeth, like many other organs, inevitably undergo chronological aging and age-related changes throughout the lifespan, resulting in a substantial need for preventive, restorative as well as periodontal dental care. This is particularly the case for seniors at 65 years of age and those older but economically disadvantaged. Dental aging not only interferes with normal chewing and digestion, but also affects daily appearance and interpersonal communications. Further dental aging can incur the case of multiple disorders such as oral cancer, encephalitis, and other systemic diseases. In the next decades or even hundreds of years, the proportion of the elderly in the global population will continue to rise, a tendency that attracts increasing attention across multiple scientific and medical disciplines. Dental aging will bring a variety of problems to the elderly themselves and poses serious challenges to the medical profession and social system. A reduced, but functional dentition comprising 20 teeth in occlusion has been proposed as a measurement index of successful dental aging. Healthy dental aging is critical to healthy aging, from both medical and social perspectives. To date, biomedical research on the causes, processes and regulatory mechanisms of dental aging is still in its infancy. In this article, updated insights into typical manifestations, associated pathologies, preventive strategies and molecular changes of dental aging are provided, with future research directions largely projected.

P 29. Age-associated characteristics in chronic vertigo patients: A survey of a specialized center for vertigo and dizziness

Introduction. Dizziness and vertigo are among the most important leading symptoms in everyday medical practice. They often become chronic and regularly lead to significant distress with a considerably limited quality of life. Considering the demographic change, the already increased prevalence of vertigo/dizziness in older people will continue to increase progressively in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize diagnosis and therapy of chronic vertigo patients. Methods. The study included 1.752 patients with chronic vertigo/dizziness who were undergoing treatment at our specialized center for dizziness and vertigo in the period from January 2013 to November 2017. The data was collected based on a questionnaire and analysis of associated patient records. Information concerning age, gender, vertigo-appearance, diagnosis, diagnostics and therapies of all patients are included. Furthermore, the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) was used to quantitatively measure the level of vertigo and dizziness impairment. Using descriptive statistics, the collected data was finally analyzed and interpreted concerning to three different age groups (age group I < 41, age group II = 41–65, age group III > 65 years of age). Results. In participants of older age, primarily somatic deficits determined the genesis of vertigo, whereas disorders in younger participants were mostly due to psychological processes. For instance, more than 80% of patients over 65 years of age had vertigo of somatic cause and in more than 50% of those under 41 years of age vertigo was based on psychological reasons (Fig. 1). Furthermore, a steady increase in vertigo impairment with advancing age was shown, which couldn“t be reasonably justified by pathogenesis or the symptomatic manifestation of the disease. Therefore, it is more likely that age-related physiological degeneration of the vestibular system as well as cognitive restrictions limit the possibilities of compensation and thus increase the level of suffering from vertigo. In addition, older patients surprisingly were less frequently affected by accompanying symptoms such as nausea/vomiting, headache, ear pressure, tinnitus and visual impairment than younger patients. Conclusion. For the interdisciplinary day care approach a combination of physiotherapy, occupational therapy as well as cognitive-based behavioral therapy is recommended. Our data suggest the assignment of patients to age-specific therapy groups. Further, because of its more frequent occurrence, symptomatic therapy of accompanying symptoms should be intensified in younger patients. Moreover, the recruitment of potential vertigo patients based on the DHI has proven to be convincing. Fig. 1. Classification and distribution of vertigo/dizziness according to somatic, psychogenic or unspecific origin in different age groups.

Analysis of esophageal manometry results and the inflection point of age in 41 volunteers without laryngopharyngeal symptoms

Objective:This study aimed to explore the differences in esophageal pressure at different ages, and to analyze the possible age inflection points of the physiological degeneration of esophageal motility, and to further evaluate whether the degeneration of esophageal kinetics with age is the only risk factor for the occurrence of throat reflux disease （LPRD）. Methods:A solid-state high-resolution esophageal pressure measurement was performed on 41 volunteers without throat symptoms. The Chicago classification data were compared with the manometry results of all volunteers. In addition, the esophageal manometry results were compared among groups with pre-set age inflection point. Results:Most of the volunteers' esophageal pressure measurements were in line with Chicago standards. When the inflection point of age was 55 years, no significant difference was found between the two groups. However, when the inflection point of age was 65 years, a significant difference in the length of the upper esophageal sphincter and the contractile front velocity was found between the two groups（P=0.021 and 0.046 respectively）. Conclusion:Esophageal dynamics was weakened with increasing age in the volunteers without laryngopharyngeal symptoms, which was more obvious after the age of 65, but still within the normal range. The degeneration of esophageal motility is not the only risk factor for LPRD.

Effect of partial hysterectomy on the neurons of the paracervical ganglion (PCG) of the pig.

Autonomic neurons innervating uterine horn is probably the only nerve cell population capable of periodical physiological degeneration and regeneration. One of the main sources of innervation of the uterus is paracervical ganglion (PCG). PCG is a unique structure of the autonomic nervous system. It contains components of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The present study examines the response of neurons of PCG innervating uterine horn to axotomy caused by partial hysterectomy in the domestic pig animal model. The study was performed using a neuronal retrograde tracing and double immunofluorescent staining for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DβH), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), neuronal nictric oxide synthase (nNOS), galanin, neuropeptide Y (NPY), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP), somatostatin and substance P (SP). Our study showed that virtually all neurons of the porcine PCG innervating uterine horn are adrenergic and we did not confirm that PCG is the source of cholinergic fibers innervating uterine horn of the pig. After axotomy there was a decrease in expression of catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes (TH, DβH) and a strong increase in the galanin expression. The increase of the number of NPY-IR neurons in the ganglia after axotomy was observed. There were no changes in the expression of other studied substances in the PCG neurons innervating the uterine horn, what was often found in rodents studies. This indicates that neurons can respond to damage in a species-specific way.

Frailty, markers of immune activation and oxidative stress in HIV infected elderly

People living with HIV-1 experience an accelerated aging due to the persistent and chronic activation of the immune system. This phenomenon conduces to immune exhaustion and precipitate immunosenescence. In general, frailty is defined as a syndrome of physiological degeneration in the elderly. Circulating naïve and memory T cells were studied by flow cytometry in non-frail and frail HIV-1-infected groups. Thymopoiesis, cell activation, senescence and cell proliferation were analyzed by CD31, HLA-DR/CD38, CD28/CD57 and Ki-67 expression, respectively. Plasma levels of sCD14 and MDA were measured by ELISA. Frail infected individuals showed a reduced number of memory T cells, both CD4+ and CD8+ populations. Activated CD3+CD4+HLA-DR+ T cells were lower in frail individuals, and directly correlated with CD3+CD8+HLA-DR+ and CD8M cells. Senescent CD8+CD28−CD57+ cells were reduced in frail HIV-1 infected individuals and inversely correlated with CD8RTE, CD8N and CD3+CD4+HLA-DR+. Higher plasma levels of sCD14 and MDA were found in HIV-1 infected frail individuals. Our data show association among frailty, markers of immune activation and oxidative stress. Understanding the immune mechanisms underlying frailty status in HIV-1 population is of high relevance not only for the prediction of continuing longevity but also for the identification of potential strategies for the elderly.

Investigation of the relationship cellular and physiological degeneration in the mandible with AQP1 and AQP3 membrane proteins

Abstract Objective In this study, we aimed to investigate the changes in the levels of oxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes on the mandibular bone caused by the expression of aquaporin-1 and aquaporin-3 proteins. Material and method 14 Balb/C white mice were divided into two groups of seven, based on whether they are young or old. Mandibular tissue samples were taken for biochemical and histological analysis. Results Findings of our study has shown that, AQP-1 and AQP-3 immunoreactivity significantly decreased in mandibular bone tissues of aged mice in comparison to younger mice (p &lt; 0.05). MDA and AOPP levels, which are the indicators of oxidative stress, increased in elderly mice and antioxidant defense system SOD enzyme activity was decreased (p &lt; 0.05). The TNF-α cytokine level, which is the indicator for inflammations, was found to be higher in older mice than in young mice (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion As a result, it was observed that cellular damage, disruption in water – electrolyte balance and increased inflammation that occur during the natural process of aging had caused serious and irreversible disturbances.

Applying hydrodynamic pressure to efficiently generate induced pluripotent stem cells via reprogramming of centenarian skin fibroblasts.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-technology is an important platform in medicine and disease modeling. Physiological degeneration and disease onset are common occurrences in the aging population. iPSCs could offer regenerative medical options for age-related degeneration and disease in the elderly. However, reprogramming somatic cells from the elderly is inefficient when successful at all. Perhaps due to their low rates of replication in culture, traditional transduction and reprogramming approaches with centenarian fibroblasts met with little success. A simple and reproducible reprogramming process is reported here which enhances interactions of the cells with the viral vectors that leads to improved iPSC generation. The improved methods efficiently generates fully reprogrammed iPSC lines from 105–107 years old subjects in feeder-free conditions using an episomal, Sendai-Virus (SeV) reprogramming vector expressing four reprogramming factors.In conclusion, dermal fibroblasts from human subjects older than 100 years can be efficiently and reproducibly reprogrammed to fully pluripotent cells with minor modifications to the standard reprogramming procedures. Efficient generation of iPSCs from the elderly may provide a source of cells for the regeneration of tissues and organs with autologous cells as well as cellular models for the study of aging, longevity and age-related diseases.

CORRELATION BETWEEN ARTHRITIC CHANGES IN CERVICAL VERTEBRAE AND TMJ

Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common pathologic conditions affecting the cervical spine and other joints, including the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). There are various theories regarding the etiology of vertebral and joint degeneration, the most common being physiologic degeneration with increasing age. Typically, degeneration is restricted to a specific joint, but often when there is a transfer of load, there could be degenerative changes associated with joints in the vicinity as a result of a compensatory load transfer mechanism. Therefore, there is a possible correlation between arthritic changes in the cervical vertebrae and those in the TMJ. Objective The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans to study the relationship between the presence/absence of degenerative changes in the cervical vertebrae and its relationship to arthritic changes in the TMJ. Materials and Methods A total of 150 CBCT scans from the archives of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology at the School of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut, were evaluated for this study. Inclusion criteria were scans that had the TMJ bilaterally and at least the cervical vertebrae C1 to C4 in the field of view. The scans were scored for the presence or absence osteoarthritis in both TMJs and their severity by using the Weishaupt/Pathria grading classification. Results Of the 150 scans analyzed, 72% showed a correlation between the presence/absence of both cervical spine and TMJ osteoarthritis, whereas the remaining 28% did not show any association or correlation. Of the 72%, only 0.4% showed a linear relationship between osteoarthritis of both joints based on the degree of severity. Conclusions A large percentage of the scans showed a correlation between the presence/absence cervical spine osteoarthritis and TMJ osteoarthritis, but no relationship based on their degree of their severity. A larger sample size must be evaluated, as the next logical step, to further understand this relationship.

Role of lncRNAs in aging and age-related diseases.

Aging is progressive physiological degeneration and consequently declined function, which is linked to senescence on both cellular and organ levels. Accumulating studies indicate that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in cellular senescence at all levels—transcriptional, post‐transcriptional, translational, and post‐translational. Understanding the molecular mechanism of lncRNAs underlying senescence could facilitate interpretation and intervention of aging and age‐related diseases. In this review, we describe categories of known and novel lncRNAs that have been involved in the progression of senescence. We also identify the lncRNAs implicated in diseases arising from age‐driven degeneration or dysfunction in some representative organs and systems (brains, liver, muscle, cardiovascular system, bone pancreatic islets, and immune system). Improved comprehension of lncRNAs in the aging process on all levels, from cell to organismal, may provide new insights into the amelioration of age‐related pathologies and prolonged healthspan.

The Issue of Age Estimation in a Modern Skeletal Population: Are Even the More Modern Current Aging Methods Satisfactory for the Elderly?,

The main idea behind age assessment in adults is related to the analysis of the physiological degeneration of particular skeletal structures with age. The main issues with these procedures are due to the fact that they have not been tested on different modern populations and in different taphonomic contexts and that they tend to underestimate the age of older individuals. The purpose of this study was to test the applicability and the reliability of these methods on a contemporary population of skeletal remains of 145 elderly individuals of known sex and age. The results show that, due to taphonomic influences, some skeletal sites showed a lower survival. Therefore, the methods with the highest percentage of applicability were Lovejoy (89.6%) and Rougé-Maillart (81.3%), followed by Suchey-Brooks (59.3%), and those with the lowest percentage of applicability were Beauthier (26.2%) and Iscan (22.7%). In addition, this research has shown how for older adults the study of both acetabulum and auricular surface may be more reliable for aging. This is also in accordance with the fact that auricular surface and the acetabulum are the areas more frequently surviving taphonomic insult.

Spectral-normalization filter for subjective analysis of the aging voice.

Voice quality changes with age. In many cases, these voice changes result in a lower quality of life. Because one way of identifying these voice quality changes is through perceptually estimating talker age, correlations made between estimated talker age and acoustic analysis can provide insight to the possible physiological degeneration related to vocal function. While most perceptual studies investigating estimated talker age are cross-sectional, a longitudinal study of single speakers could provide additional details in the progressive degeneration of the voice quality. Nevertheless, one limitation of these studies is that perceptual ratings of voice quality or talker age in a longitudinal study could be biased by recording quality. Further, the spectral qualities of recordings from earlier decades are limited by the technology used. In this paper, a spectral-normalization filter was developed and applied to a corpus of recordings from an individual spanning about 50 years (1959 - 2007) to reduce this impact of these limitations. The filter was shown to be effective in normalizing the autospectra of the recordings and the fundamental frequency was unaffected by the filter. Preliminary subjective analysis suggests that the recording quality of all the files were perceptually similar.