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Basu T, Sehar U, Malhotra K, Culberson J, Khan H, Morton H, Orlov E, Brownell M, Reddy PH. Healthy brain aging and delayed dementia in Texas rural elderly. Ageing Res Rev 2023; 91:102047. [PMID: 37652312 PMCID: PMC10843417 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2023.102047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Healthy aging is the process of preserving and enhancing one's independence, physical and mental well-being, and overall quality of life. It involves the mental, emotional, and cognitive wellness. Although biological and genetic factors have a significant influence on the process of aging gracefully, other adjustable factors also play a crucial role. Adopting positive behaviors such as maintaining a nutritious and balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity, effectively managing stress and anxiety, ensuring sufficient sleep, nurturing spiritual coping mechanisms, and prioritizing overall well-being from an early stage can collectively influence both lifespan and the quality of health during advanced years. We aim to explore the potential impacts of biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors on the process of healthy cognitive aging in individuals who exhibit healthy aging. Additionally, we plan to present initial findings that demonstrate how maintaining good cognitive health during aging could potentially postpone the emergence of neurodegenerative disorders. We hypothesize that there will be strong associations between biological, environmental, and social factors that cause some elderly to be superior in cognitive health than others. For preliminary data collection, we recruited 25 cognitively healthy individuals and 5 individuals with MCI/AD between the ages of 60-90 years. We conducted anthropometric measurements, and blood biomarker testing, administered surveys, and obtained structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores and sub-scores for the healthy group were also reported. We found that at baseline, individuals exhibiting healthy cognitive aging, and those with MCI/AD had comparable measures of anthropometrics and blood biomarkers. The healthy group exhibited lower signs of brain volume loss and the ones observed were age-related. Moreover, within the healthy group, there was a significant correlation (p = 0.003) between age and MoCA scores. Conversely, within the individuals with MCI/AD, the MRI scans showed disease signs of grey and white matter and loss of cerebral volume. Healthy brain aging is a scientific area that remains under-explored. Our current study findings support our hypothesis. Future studies are required in diverse populations to determine the various biological, psychological, environmental, lifestyle, and social factors that contribute to it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanisha Basu
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - Ujala Sehar
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - Keya Malhotra
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA; Grace Clinic, Covenant Health System, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | - John Culberson
- Department of Family Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - Hafiz Khan
- Public Health Department, School of Population and Public Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - Hallie Morton
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - Erika Orlov
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - Malcolm Brownell
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
| | - P Hemachandra Reddy
- Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA; Public Health Department, School of Population and Public Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA; Neurology, Departments of School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA; Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, School Health Professions, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA; Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA; Nutritional Sciences Department, College of Human Sciences, Texas Tech University, 1301 Akron Ave, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA.
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Takousis P, Devonshire AS, Redshaw N, von Baumgarten L, Whale AS, Jones GM, Fernandez-Gonzalez A, Martin J, Foy CA, Alexopoulos P, Huggett JF, Perneczky R. A standardised methodology for the extraction and quantification of cell-free DNA in cerebrospinal fluid and application to evaluation of Alzheimer's disease and brain cancers. N Biotechnol 2022; 72:97-106. [PMID: 36202346 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2022.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 09/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a source of diagnostic biomarkers for a range of neurological conditions. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is detected in CSF and differences in the concentration of cell-free mitochondrial DNA have been reported in studies of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the influence of pre-analytical steps has not been investigated for cfDNA in CSF and there is no standardised approach for quantification of total cfDNA (copies of nuclear genome or mitochondria-derived gene targets). In this study, the suitability of four extraction methods was evaluated: QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acid (Qiagen), Quick-cfDNA Serum & Plasma (Zymo), NucleoSnap® DNA Plasma (Macherey-Nagel) and Plasma/Serum Circulating DNA Purification Mini (Norgen) kits, for cfDNA extraction from CSF of controls and AD dementia patients, utilising a spike-in control for extraction efficiency and fragment size. One of the optimal extraction methods was applied to a comparison of cfDNA concentrations in CSF from control subjects, AD dementia and primary and secondary brain tumour patients. Extraction efficiency based on spike-in recovery was similar in all three groups whilst both endogenous mitochondrial and nucleus-derived cfDNA was significantly higher in CSF from cancer patients compared to control and AD groups, which typically contained < 100 genome copies/mL. This study shows that it is feasible to measure low concentration nuclear and mitochondrial gene targets in CSF and that normalisation of extraction yield can help control pre-analytical variability influencing biomarker measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petros Takousis
- Ageing Epidemiology (AGE) Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Alison S Devonshire
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK.
| | - Nicholas Redshaw
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK
| | - Louisa von Baumgarten
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Alexandra S Whale
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK
| | - Gerwyn M Jones
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK
| | - Ana Fernandez-Gonzalez
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK
| | - Jan Martin
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Carole A Foy
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK
| | - Panagiotis Alexopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Patras, Rion Patras, Greece; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Jim F Huggett
- Molecular and Cell Biology Team, National Measurement Laboratory, LGC, Teddington, Middlesex, UK; School of Biosciences and Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
| | - Robert Perneczky
- Ageing Epidemiology (AGE) Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Munich, Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany; Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Soelter TM, Whitlock JH, Williams AS, Hardigan AA, Lasseigne BN. Nucleic acid liquid biopsies in Alzheimer's disease: current state, challenges, and opportunities. Heliyon 2022; 8:e09239. [PMID: 35469332 PMCID: PMC9034064 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Revised: 09/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and affects persons of all races, ethnic groups, and sexes. The disease is characterized by neuronal loss leading to cognitive decline and memory loss. There is no cure and the effectiveness of existing treatments is limited and depends on the time of diagnosis. The long prodromal period, during which patients' ability to live a normal life is not affected despite neuronal loss, often leads to a delayed diagnosis because it can be mistaken for normal aging of the brain. In order to make a substantial impact on AD patient survival, early diagnosis may provide a greater therapeutic window for future therapies to slow AD-associated neurodegeneration. Current gold standards for disease detection include magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography scans, which visualize amyloid β and phosphorylated tau depositions and aggregates. Liquid biopsies, already an active field of research in precision oncology, are hypothesized to provide early disease detection through minimally or non-invasive sample collection techniques. Liquid biopsies in AD have been studied in cerebrospinal fluid, blood, ocular, oral, and olfactory fluids. However, most of the focus has been on blood and cerebrospinal fluid due to biomarker specificity and sensitivity attributed to the effects of the blood-brain barrier and inter-laboratory variation during sample collection. Many studies have identified amyloid β and phosphorylated tau levels as putative biomarkers, however, advances in next-generation sequencing-based liquid biopsy methods have led to significant interest in identifying nucleic acid species associated with AD from liquid tissues. Differences in cell-free RNAs and DNAs have been described as potential biomarkers for AD and hold the potential to affect disease diagnosis, treatment, and future research avenues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tabea M. Soelter
- Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Jordan H. Whitlock
- Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Avery S. Williams
- Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Andrew A. Hardigan
- Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Brittany N. Lasseigne
- Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA
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