National Institute on Aging at middle age--its past, present, and future

Global scientific trends in healthy aging in the early 21st century: A data-driven scientometric and visualized analysis

Background

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), healthy aging is the process of developing and maintaining the functional capacity for health in old age. A rapidly growing number of research studies on healthy aging have been conducted worldwide. The purpose of this research work is to explore global scientific landscape of healthy aging research over the last 22 years.

Methods

Scientific publications on healthy aging from January 1, 2000 to October 11, 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) on October 11, 2022. A total of 6420 publications were included in the scientometric analysis. VOSviewer (1.6.18) was used to conduct scientometric and visualized analysis.

Results

The publication growth rate was 35.68 from 2000 to 2021. The United States of America (USA) led in both productivity and citations. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA was prominent in terms of both the highest citation count and the highest average citation count. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) and Evans, Michele K. were the most influential organization and author, respectively. Research hotspots in healthy aging were identified based on the co-occurrence analysis of keywords: (1) physical activity and mental health of older adults; (2) diseases impacting the health and lifespan of older adults; and (3) neuroscience. Our analysis indicates that gut microbiota, loneliness, frailty, mitochondria and resilience were the emerging themes in healthy aging research.

Conclusions

The quantity of annual publications on healthy aging has rapidly increased over the past 22 years, especially during 2018-2021. This analysis identified the status, trends, hot topics, and frontiers of healthy aging research. These findings will help researchers quickly understand the global representation of healthy aging research, influence resource dissemination, promote international collaborations, guide policy formulation, and improve health services for older adults.

Validation of a dietary balance score in middle-aged and older community-dwelling Japanese

This study assessed the validity of dietary balance scores (DBSs) by investigating the association between DBSs and nutrient adequacy (NA) in two Japanese populations. The participants were 65 community-dwelling Japanese from Tokushima Prefecture and 2,330 community-dwelling Japanese from Aichi Prefecture. Based on food frequency questionnaires or 3-day dietary records, we obtained 18 food groups. The NA score integrates nine beneficial nutrients and two nutrients that should be limited. We calculated four different DBSs: DBS1 consisted of five food groups (score range:0?20), DBS2 consisted of nine food groups (score range:0?36), DBS3 consisted of eight food groups (score range:0?32), and DBS4 consisted of 10 food groups (score range:0?40). Both the Spearman rank correlation coefficient with NA and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) for the nine beneficial nutrients were then estimated to test the performance of each DBS in predicting nutrient intake. The results showed that DBS1 and DBS4 were positively correlated with NA, while the AUC-ROC showed that DBS4 could moderately discriminate individuals with adequate intake levels of all nine nutrients. These findings suggest DBSs (especially DBS4) are useful in assessing dietary balance in middle-aged and older community-dwelling Japanese. J. Med. Invest. 70 : 377-387, August, 2023.

Surgical Treatment of Spinal Meningiomas in the Elderly (≥75 Years): Which Factors Affect the Neurological Outcome? An International Multicentric Study of 72 Cases

(1) Background: With the increasing life expectancy in the Western world, an increasing number of old patients presents with spinal meningioma. Considering the benign nature of these tumors, the functional outcome remains of great importance, since more people reach old age in general conditions of well-being and satisfactory autonomy. (2) Methods: We conducted an international multicenter retrospective study to investigate demographic, clinical and radiological data in a population of elderly patients (≥75 years of age) undergoing surgery for SM from January 2000 to December 2020 in four European referral centers. The aim was to identify prognostic and predictive factors for a good postoperative functional outcome. (3) Results: 72 patients were included in the study. Complete tumor resection (Simpson I or II) was achieved in 67 (95.7%) cases. Intraoperative complications were reported in 7 (9.9%) patients while postoperative complications were found in 12 (16.7%). An excellent general postoperative status (McCormick I and II) was achieved in 65.3%. Overall, surgical resection had a good impact on patients’ functional outcome (86.1% either showing an improvement or maintaining a good preoperative status). Uni- and multivariate analyses found that both age and preoperative modified McCormick independently correlated with relative outcome (coeff = −0.058, p = 0.0251; coeff = 0.597, p < 0.0001) and with postoperative status (coeff = 0.058, p = 0.02507; coeff = 0.402, p = 0.00027), respectively. (4) Conclusions: Age and preoperative modified McCormick were found to be independent prognostic factors. Nevertheless, advanced age (≥75), per se, did not seem to contraindicate surgery, even in those with severe preoperative neurological deficits. The functional results sustain the need for surgical resection of SM in the elderly.

Religious service attendance and mortality among older Black men

Religious institutions have been responsive to the needs of Black men and other marginalized populations. Religious service attendance is a common practice that has been associated with stress management and extended longevity. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between religious service attendance and all-cause mortality among Black men 50 years of age and older. Data for this study were from NHANES III (1988–1994). The analytic sample (n = 839) was restricted to participants at least 50 years of age at the time of interview who self-identified as Black and male. Mortality was the primary outcome for this study and the NHANES III Linked Mortality File was used to estimate race-specific, non-injury-related death rates using a probabilistic matching algorithm, linked to the National Death Index through December 31, 2015, providing up to 27 years follow-up. The primary independent variable was religious service attendance, a categorical variable indicating that participants attended religious services at least weekly, three or fewer times per month, or not at all. The mean age of participants was 63.6±0.3 years and 36.4% of sample members reported that they attended religious services one or more times per week, exceeding those attending three or fewer times per month (31.7%), or not at all (31.9%). Cox proportional hazard logistic regression models were estimated to determine the association between religious service attendance and mortality. Participants with the most frequent religious service attendance had a 47% reduction of all-cause mortality risk compared their peer who did not attend religious services at all (HR 0.53, CI 0.35–0.79) in the fully adjusted model including socioeconomic status, non-cardiovascular medical conditions, health behaviors, social support and allostatic load. Our findings underscore the potential salience of religiosity and spirituality for health in Black men, an understudied group where elevated risk factors are often present.

Validity of dietary diversity assessed using short-form questionnaire among older Japanese community dwellers

The validity of dietary variety score (DVS) using a short-form questionnaire has not been investigated using dietary diversity based on a quantitative distribution of consumed foods in older Japanese. We examined the association between DVS and objective dietary diversity using a Quantitative Index for Dietary Diversity (QUANTIDD) based on the quantitative distribution of foods consumed by older Japanese community dwellers. The subjects were 65 older Japanese community dwellers aged 60?79 years. We used two kinds of scores for assessment of dietary diversity. At first, dietary diversity was determined using DVS calculated from answers to a questionnaire about frequencies of intake of 10 food groups. Second, dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day dietary record with photographs, and dietary diversity was determined using QUANTIDD. The relationships between DVS and QUANTIDD were assessed using partial correlation coefficients controlling for confounders. The correlation coefficient between DVS and QUANTIDD was moderate (r=0.212-0.458). After controlling for confounders, those correlation coefficient between DVS and QUANTIDD remained moderate. The findings suggest that there was a moderate relationship between DVS and QUANTIDD, and DVS using a short-form questionnaire may be useful for assessing dietary diversity in older Japanese community dwellers. J. Med. Invest. 69 : 31-37, February, 2022.

Intake of isoflavones reduces the risk of all-cause mortality in middle-aged Japanese

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

To clarify the effects of intake of legumes and isoflavones on all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older Japanese.

SUBJECT/METHODS

The subjects were 2136 randomly chosen community-dwelling Japanese men and women aged 40-79 years who participated in a first-wave survey (1997-2000; baseline). The subjects were followed from baseline to December 31, 2017 (mean period of 16.6 ± 4.2 years). Intake of legumes, soybeans, and isoflavones at baseline was assessed using a 3-day dietary record with photographs. The relationships of intake amounts of legumes and isoflavones to mortality were assessed using Cox proportional hazards regression controlling for age, sex, education, employment, body mass index, smoking habits, medical histories, drinking, and energy intake.

RESULTS

There were 491 deaths during the follow-up period. We found inverse associations of the intake of total soy products and intake of each of the isoflavones with all-cause mortality (p for trend < 0.05) in subjects aged < 60 years: the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for all-cause mortality in the highest intake group (third tertile) of total soy products and total isoflavones were 0.32 (0.13-0.78) and 0.35 (0.17-0.73), respectively, compared with the reference group (first tertile). In contrast, there were no significant associations of intake amounts of legumes, soybeans, and isoflavones with all-cause mortality in subjects aged 60 years or older.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that a higher intake of isoflavones might decrease the risk of all-cause mortality, especially in middle-aged Japanese.

Metabolic Disturbances in the Striatum and Substantia Nigra in the Onset and Progression of MPTP-Induced Parkinsonism Model

Metabolic confusion has been linked to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), while the dynamic changes associated with the onset and progression of PD remain unclear. Herein, dynamic changes in metabolites were detected from the initiation to the development of 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) -induced Parkinsonism model to elucidate its potential metabolic mechanism. Ex vivo¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to measure metabolite changes in the striatum and substantia nigra (SN) of mice at 1, 7, and 21 days after injection of MPTP. Metabolomic analysis revealed a clear separation of the overall metabolites between PD and control mice at different time points. Glutamate (Glu) in the striatum was significantly elevated at induction PD day 1 mice, which persisted to day 21. N-acetylaspartate (NAA) increased in the striatum of induction PD mice on days 1 and 7, but no significant difference was found in striatum on day 21. Myo-Inositol (mI) and taurine (Tau) were also disturbed in the striatum in induction PD day 1 mice. Additionally, key enzymes in the glutamate-glutamine cycle were significantly increased in PD mice. These findings suggest that neuron loss and motor function impairment in induction PD mice may be linked to overactive glutamate-glutamine cycle and altered membrane metabolism.

Aging Research: Collaborations Forge a Promising Future

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was founded in 1974 to conduct and support research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. The Institute's interests span the fundamental processes that contribute to aging and their impact on systems; diseases and conditions for which aging is a risk factor; and interventions that may prevent, delay, or treat these conditions or otherwise contribute to an extension of healthy, active years of life. Multiple fruitful research collaborations within and outside the federal government, spanning the breadth of the Institute's research activities, have marked NIA's growth over the past 40 years, as well as its current areas of ongoing research. This article discusses several highlights of these collaborations, including the Health and Retirement Study, geroscience research, falls injury prevention in elderly adults, and implementation of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease, from the perspective of past accomplishments and trends for the future.

NMR Metabolomics Analysis of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease, which is characterized by progressive death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Although mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are linked to PD pathogenesis, its etiology and pathology remain to be elucidated. Metabolomics investigates metabolite changes in biofluids, cell lysates, tissues and tumors in order to correlate these metabolomic changes to a disease state. Thus, the application of metabolomics to investigate PD provides a systematic approach to understand the pathology of PD, to identify disease biomarkers, and to complement genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics studies. This review will examine current research into PD mechanisms with a focus on mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Neurotoxin-based PD animal models and the rationale for metabolomics studies in PD will also be discussed. The review will also explore the potential of NMR metabolomics to address important issues related to PD treatment and diagnosis.