Digital Commons Network^™

Serum Nutrient Levels And Aging Effects On Periodontitis, Jeffrey L Ebersole, Joshua Lambert, Heather Bush, Pinar Emecen Huja, Arpita Basu

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Periodontal disease damages tissues as a result of dysregulated host responses against the chronic bacterial biofilm insult and approximately 50% of US adults > 30 years old exhibit periodontitis. The association of five blood nutrients and periodontitis were evaluated due to our previous findings regarding a potential protective effect for these nutrients in periodontal disease derived from the US population sampled as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999–2004). Data from over 15,000 subjects was analyzed for blood levels of cis-β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, folate, vitamin D, and vitamin E, linked with analysis of the presence and severity of periodontitis. …

Advanced Heart Failure Treatment Options Among The Elderly, German Guzman-Gutierrez, Yang Shi, Matthew Rappelt, Arshad Jahangir, Vinay Thohan

Aurora Heart Failure / Transplant Faculty

The aging human population has emerged as a critically important factor in health care, not only due to the unique physiologic and pathologic processes associated with aging but also because of the evolution of medical and surgical therapies that have increased quality and quantity of life. Heart failure is a disease found most commonly among older populations in whom it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Heart failure disproportionately affects the elderly, and it stands to reason that the most terminal stage, known as advanced heart failure (AHF), is more common among the elderly. Despite limited data, treatment options …

Artificial Gravity As A Countermeasure To The Cardiovascular Deconditioning Of Spaceflight: Gender Perspectives, Joyce M. Evans, Charles F. Knapp, Nandu Goswami

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Space flight-induced physiological deconditioning resulting from decreased gravitational input, decreased plasma volume, and disruption of regulatory mechanisms is a significant problem in returning astronauts as well as in normal aging. Here we review effects of a promising countermeasure on cardiovascular systems of healthy men and women undergoing Earth-based models of space-flight. This countermeasure is produced by a centrifuge and called artificial gravity (AG). Numerous studies have determined that AG improves orthostatic tolerance (as assessed by various protocols) of healthy ambulatory men, of men deconditioned by bed rest or by immersion (both wet and dry) and, in one case, following spaceflight. …

Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy Associated With Nocturnal Dip In Blood Pressure: Findings From The Maracaibo Aging Study, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Joseph H. Lee, Michele Petitto, Juan B. Yepez, Felipe A. Murati, Zhezhen Jin, Carlos A. Chavez, Rosa V. Pirela, Gustavo E. Calmon, Matthew P. Johnson, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Purpose—To determine which nocturnal blood pressure (BP) parameters (low levels or extreme dipper status) are associated with an increased risk of glaucomatous damage in Hispanics.

Design—Observational cross-sectional study.

Participants—A subset (n=93) of the participants from the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) who met the study eligibility criteria were included. These participants — who were at least 40 years of age — had measurements for optical tomography coherence, visual field tests, 24-hour BP, office BP, and intraocular pressureHg.

Methods—Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses under the generalized estimating equations (GEE) framework were used to examine the relationships between …

Aging Exacerbates Development Of Cerebral Microbleeds In A Mouse Model, Rachita K. Sumbria, Mher Mahoney Grigoryan, Vitaly Vasilevko, Annlia Paganini-Hill, Kelley Kilday, Ronald Kim, David H. Cribbs, Mark J. Fisher

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Cerebral microhemorrhages (CMH) are commonly found in the aging brain. CMH are also the neuropathological substrate of cerebral microbleeds (CMB), demonstrated on brain MRI. Recent studies demonstrate the importance of systemic inflammation in CMH development, but the relationships among inflammation, aging, and CMH development are not well-defined. In the current study, we hypothesized that the pathogenesis of inflammation-induced CMH in mice differs by age.

Methods: We studied young (3 months, n = 20) and old (18 months, n = 25) C57BL/6 mice injected with low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 1 mg/kg, i.p.) or saline at 0, 6, and 24 …

Fk506-Binding Protein 12.6/1b, A Negative Regulator Of [Ca2+], Rescues Memory And Restores Genomic Regulation In The Hippocampus Of Aging Rats, John C. Gant, Eric M. Blalock, Kuey-Chu Chen, Inga Kadish, Olivier Thibault, Nada M. Porter, Philip W. Landfield

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Hippocampal overexpression of FK506-binding protein 12.6/1b (FKBP1b), a negative regulator of ryanodine receptor Ca²⁺ release, reverses aging-induced memory impairment and neuronal Ca²⁺ dysregulation. Here, we tested the hypothesis that FKBP1b also can protect downstream transcriptional networks from aging-induced dysregulation. We gave hippocampal microinjections of FKBP1b-expressing viral vector to male rats at either 13 months of age (long-term, LT) or 19 months of age (short-term, ST) and tested memory performance in the Morris water maze at 21 months of age. Aged rats treated ST or LT with FKBP1b substantially outperformed age-matched vector controls and performed similarly …

Serum Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Associates With Myocardial Oxygen Demand And Exercise Tolerance In Postmenopausal Women, Stephen J. Carter, David R. Bryan, William H. Neumeier, Stephen P. Glasser, Gary R. Hunter

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

The functional implications of serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), a marker of oxidative stress, on hemodynamic parameters at rest and during physical exertion are unclear. The aims of this investigation were to examine the independent associations of TNF-α on myocardial oxygen demand at rest and during submaximal exercise, while also evaluating the association of TNF-α on exercise tolerance. Forty, postmenopausal women, provided blood samples and completed a modified-Balke protocol to measure maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max). Large artery compliance was measured by pulse contour analyses while rate-pressure product (RPP), an index of myocardial oxygen demand, was measured at rest …

Cellular Senescence Is Induced By The Environmental Neurotoxin Paraquat And Contributes To Neuropathology Linked To Parkinson’S Disease, Shankar J. Chinta, Georgia Woods, Marco Demaria, Anand Rane, Ying Zou, Amanda Mcquade, David T. Madden

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Exposure to the herbicide paraquat (PQ) is associated with an increased risk of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). Therapies based on PQ’s presumed mechanisms of action have not, however, yielded effective disease therapies. Cellular senescence is an anticancer mechanism that arrests proliferation of replication-competent cells and results in a pro-inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) capable of damaging neighboring tissues. Here, we demonstrate that senescent cell markers are preferentially present within astrocytes in PD brain tissues. Additionally, PQ was found to induce astrocytic senescence and an SASP in vitro and in vivo, and senescent cell depletion in the latter protects against …