Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Role Of Sirt1 In Vascular Complications Of Diabetes, Rokhsana Mortuza

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Chronic diabetic complications are significant causes of morbidity. In diabetes, as the cellular changes are similar to aging, we investigated the role of sirtuins (SIRTs) in chronic diabetic complications.

We examined glucose and aging-induced changes in the endothelial cells (ECs), the primary targets of chronic diabetic complications. ECs in high glucose showed evidences of early senescence, being more pronounced in microvascular ECs in association with decreased SIRT1 and FOXO1-dependent reduction in antioxidant gene expressions. A regulatory relationship of deacetylator SIRT1 and histone acetylator p300 was identified. Renal and retinal tissues of diabetic animals showed similar results.

Having established such changes, …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Ss-Hydroxy-Ss-Methylbutyrate On The Flight Ability And Lifespan Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Alexandra Elizabeth Beattie

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

As muscle function deteriorates with age, the discovery of new ways to enhance the quality of human life by stunting inevitable aging processes, such as sarcopenia, is a subject of great interest to aging populations, to health care professionals and to nutritional companies. β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate (HMB) enhances muscle strength in humans and attenuates disease-induced and disuse-dependent atrophy in rodents. We investigated the feasibility of utilizing Drosophila as a model organism to study the biological effects of HMB in aging muscle. Using flight ability as an index of muscle function and monitoring the lifespan of flies, we found that normal food supplemented …