Ceramide Biomarkers Predictive of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Increase in Healthy Older Adults After Bed Rest

Abstract Acute bed rest places older adults at risk for health complications by disrupting homeostasis in many organ systems, including the cardiovascular system. Circulating ceramides are emerging biomarkers predictive of cardiovascular and metabolic health and have recently been shown to be sensitive indices of cardiovascular (CV) risk. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize the time course of changes in circulating ceramides in healthy younger and older adults after 5 days of bed rest and to determine whether short-term bed rest alters CV-related circulating ceramides. We hypothesized that circulating ceramides predictive of poor cardiometabolic outcomes would increase following 5 days of bed rest. Thirty-five healthy younger and older men and women (young: n = 13, old: n = 22) underwent 5 days of controlled bed rest. Fasting blood samples collected daily during the course of bed rest were used to measure circulating ceramides, lipoproteins, adiponectin, and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) levels. The primary findings were that circulating ceramides decreased while ceramide ratios and the cardiac event risk test 1 score were increased primarily in older adults, and these findings were independent of changes in circulating lipoprotein levels. Additionally, we found that changes in circulating adiponectin, FGF21 and the 6-minute walk test (6MW) inversely correlated with CV-related circulating ceramides after bed rest. The results of this study highlight the sensitivity of circulating ceramides to detect potential CV dysfunction that may occur with acute physical disuse in aging.

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Frontal White Matter Hyperintensities and Executive Functioning Performance in Older Adults

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.672535 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Emanuel M. Boutzoukas ◽

Andrew O'Shea ◽

Alejandro Albizu ◽

Nicole D. Evangelista ◽

Hanna K. Hausman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Working Memory ◽

Executive Function ◽

Frontal Lobe ◽

White Matter Hyperintensities ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Cardiovascular Disease Risk ◽

Set Shifting ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Age Related

Frontal lobe structures decline faster than most other brain regions in older adults. Age-related change in the frontal lobe is associated with poorer executive function (e.g., working memory, switching/set-shifting, and inhibitory control). The effects and presence of frontal lobe white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on executive function in normal aging is relatively unknown. The current study assessed relationships between region-specific frontal WMH load and cognitive performance in healthy older adults using three executive function tasks from the NIH Toolbox (NIHTB) Cognition Battery. A cohort of 279 healthy older adults ages 65–88 completed NIHTB and 3T T1-weighted and FLAIR MRI. Lesion Segmentation Toolbox quantified WMH volume and generated lesion probability maps. Individual lesion maps were registered to the Desikan-Killiany atlas in FreeSurfer 6.0 to define regions of interest (ROI). Independent linear regressions assessed relationships between executive function performance and region-specific WMH in frontal lobe ROIs. All models included age, sex, education, estimated total intracranial volume, multi-site scanner differences, and cardiovascular disease risk using Framingham criteria as covariates. Poorer set-shifting performance was associated with greater WMH load in three frontal ROIs including bilateral superior frontal (left β = −0.18, FDR-p = 0.02; right β = −0.20, FDR-p = 0.01) and right medial orbitofrontal (β = −0.17, FDR-p = 0.02). Poorer inhibitory performance associated with higher WMH load in one frontal ROI, the right superior frontal (right β = −0.21, FDR-p = 0.01). There were no significant associations between working memory and WMH in frontal ROIs. Our study demonstrates that location and pattern of frontal WMH may be important to assess when examining age-related differences in cognitive functions involving switching/set-shifting and inhibition. On the other hand, working memory performance was not related to presence of frontal WMH in this sample. These data suggest that WMH may contribute selectively to age-related declines in executive function. Findings emerged beyond predictors known to be associated with WMH presence, including age and cardiovascular disease risk. The spread of WMH within the frontal lobes may play a key role in the neuropsychological profile of cognitive aging. Further research should explore whether early intervention on modifiable vascular factors or cognitive interventions targeted for executive abilities may help mitigate the effect of frontal WMH on executive function.

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Processing gender stereotypes in dementia patients and older healthy adults: a self-paced reading study

Linguistics Vanguard ◽

10.1515/lingvan-2018-0029 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (s2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel Müller-Feldmeth ◽

Katharina Ahnefeld ◽

Adriana Hanulíková

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Young Adults ◽

Sentence Processing ◽

Gender Stereotypes ◽

Time Course ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Control Group ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Dementia Patients ◽

Age Related

AbstractWe used self-paced reading to examine whether stereotypical associations of verbs with women or men as prototypical agents (e.g. the craftsman knits a sweater) are activated during sentence processing in dementia patients and healthy older adults. Effects of stereotypical knowledge on language processing have frequently been observed in young adults, but little is known about age-related changes in the activation and integration of stereotypical information. While syntactic processing may remain intact, semantic capacities are often affected in dementia. Since inferences based on gender stereotypes draw on social and world knowledge, access to stereotype information may also be affected in dementia patients. Results from dementia patients (n = 9, average age 86.6) and healthy older adults (n = 14, average age 79.5) showed slower reading times and less accuracy in comprehension scores for dementia patients compared to the control group. While activation of stereotypical associations of verbs was visible in both groups, they differed with respect to the time-course of processing. The effect of stereotypes on comprehension accuracy was visible for healthy adults only. The evidence from reading times suggests that older adults with and without dementia engage stereotypical inferences during reading, which is in line with research on young adults.

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Associations of peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity with cardiovascular disease risk and cognitive decline in clinically normal older adults

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1002/alz.043812 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (S4) ◽

Author(s):

Matthew R. Scott ◽

Aaron P. Schultz ◽

Rachel F. Buckley ◽

Hsiang‐Chin Lori Chou ◽

Olivia L Hampton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Cardiovascular Disease Risk ◽

Mean Diffusivity ◽

Peak Width ◽

Clinically Normal

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Effect of 10 Days of Bed Rest on Skeletal Muscle in Healthy Older Adults

JAMA ◽

10.1001/jama.297.16.1772-b ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 297 (16) ◽

pp. 1769 ◽

Cited By ~ 404

Author(s):

Patrick Kortebein ◽

Arny Ferrando ◽

Juan Lombeida ◽

Robert Wolfe ◽

William J. Evans

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Skeletal Muscle ◽

Bed Rest ◽

Healthy Older Adults

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Cardiovascular Disease Risk Influences Cerebrovascular Regulation in Older Adults

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise ◽

10.1249/01.mss.0000560494.36855.02 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 51 (Supplement) ◽

pp. 1-2

Author(s):

Sophy J. Perdomo ◽

Jaimie Ward ◽

Yumei Liu ◽

Eric D. Vidoni ◽

Emily Witte ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Cardiovascular Disease Risk ◽

Cerebrovascular Regulation

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Obesity and Hypogonadism—A Narrative Review Highlighting the Need for High-Quality Data in Adolescents

Children ◽

10.3390/children6050063 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (5) ◽

pp. 63 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tasnim Mushannen ◽

Priscilla Cortez ◽

Fatima Cody Stanford ◽

Vibha Singhal

Keyword(s):

Reproductive System ◽

Disease Risk ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Clomiphene Citrate ◽

Cardiovascular Disease Risk ◽

Quality Data ◽

Male Hypogonadism ◽

Hpg Axis ◽

Organ Systems ◽

Sexual Characteristics

The prevalence of obesity continues to rise in adult and pediatric populations throughout the world. Obesity has a direct impact on all organ systems, including the reproductive system. This review summarizes current knowledge about the effects of obesity on the male reproductive system across age, highlighting the need for more data in children and adolescents. Male hypogonadism is commonly seen in patients with obesity and affects the onset, duration, and progression of puberty. Different pathophysiologic mechanisms include increased peripheral conversion of testosterone to estrone and increased inflammation due to increased fat, both of which lead to suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadotropin (HPG) axis and delayed development of secondary sexual characteristics in adolescent males. Evaluation of the HPG axis in obesity includes a thorough history to exclude other causes of hypogonadism and syndromic associations. Evaluation should also include investigating the complications of low testosterone, including increased visceral fat, decreased bone density, cardiovascular disease risk, and impaired mood and cognition, among others. The mainstay of treatment is weight reduction, but medications such as testosterone and clomiphene citrate used in adults, remain scarcely used in adolescents. Male hypogonadism associated with obesity is common and providers who care for adolescents and young adults with obesity should be aware of its impact and management.

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