Increased nocturnal urinary cortisol levels in the elderly patients with depression, coexisting major geriatric syndromes and combined pathogenetic mechanisms.

Background: The mechanisms at the basis of depression are still matter of debate, but several studies in the literature suggest common pathways with dementia (genetic predispositions, metabolic and inflammatory mechanisms, neuropathological changes) and other geriatric syndromes.

Aims: To evaluate the role of cortisol (as marker of the HPA, hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis hyperactivity) in elderly subjects with depressive symptoms (by the means of the AGICO, AGIng and COrtisol, study), in relationship to the presence of the major geriatric syndromes.

Methods: The AGICO study enrolled patients from ten Geriatric Units in Italy.

Bacterial DNAemia in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Association with Cognitive Decline, Plasma BDNF Levels, and Inflammatory Response.

Microbial dysbiosis (MD) provokes gut barrier alterations and bacterial translocation in the bloodstream. The increased blood bacterial DNA (BB-DNA) may promote peripheral- and neuro-inflammation, contributing to cognitive impairment. MD also influences brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) production, whose alterations contribute to the etiopathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The increased cortisol levels with preserved rhythmicity in aging and its relationship with dementia and metabolic syndrome.

Background: In the aging process, the cumulative exposure to stress with increased cortisol levels is considered to be associated to the senescence itself and its related disorders.

Aims: To evaluate the role of cortisol in elderly subjects, with or without dementia, by the means of the AGICO study.

Methods: The AGICO study enrolled patients from ten Geriatric Units in Italy in 2012-2017 (Study Director Prof Paolo Falaschi, S.

Prognostic Interplay of Functional Status and Multimorbidity Among Older Patients Discharged From Hospital.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic weight of multimorbidity and functional impairment over long-term mortality among older patients discharged from acute care hospitals.

Design: A prospective multicenter observational study.

Setting And Participants: Our series consisted of 1967 adults aged ≥65 years consecutively admitted to acute care wards in Italy, in the context of the Report-AGE project.

Study of the effects of adapted Tango and multidimensional intervention in pREvention of dementia in agiNG: developing healTHy lifestyle programs (STRENGTH Project)-the experimental protocol of a prospective randomised controlled trial.

Background: Dementia represents a key health issue for older adults, with negative consequences on psycho-social and functional status. Treatments that counteract cognitive deficits in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are needed to prevent or delay it.

Aim: To describe the experimental protocol of the STRENGTH Project.

Oxidative Stress in Elderly with Different Cognitive Status: My Mind Project.

Background: Biomarkers of oxidative stress have been associated with cognitive status in humans and have been proposed to guide prognosis/treatment in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare oxidative stress status in the plasma of mild-moderate AD, MCI, and healthy elderly with normal cognition (HE) undergoing a non-pharmacological intervention including multi-modal cognitive training ("My Mind Project").

Methods: A prospective randomized trial involving 321 elderly people enrolled in Marche Region, Italy.

Preadmission Functional Decline Predicts Functional Improvement Among Older Patients Admitted to Acute Care Hospital.

Background: Functional decline from preadmission to admission may represent an important predictor of functional trajectories during hospitalization among older patients. Therefore, we aimed at describing the impact of preadmission decline on functional trajectories among older hospitalized patients.

Methods: Our series consisted of 2,011 patients aged 65 years or more consecutively admitted to four acute care wards of Geriatric Medicine participating to a multicenter observational study.

Coronary flow response to remote ischemic preconditioning is preserved in old cardiac patients.

Background: The effect of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) on coronary flow in elderly cardiac patients has not been investigated yet. Thus, we aimed to study the change of coronary flow subsequent to RIPC in old patients with heart diseases and to identify its main correlates.

Methods: Ninety-five elderly patients (aged ≥ 65 years) accessing cardiac rehabilitation ward underwent transthoracic ultrasound evaluation of peak diastolic flow velocity of left anterior descending artery.

Effect of a Comprehensive Intervention on Plasma BDNF in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

A comprehensive intervention (CI) on patients with Alzheimer's disease was assessed by measuring plasmabrain-derived neurotrophic factor (pBDNF) and ADAS-Cog score (ADAS-Cogscore) before, immediately after (FU1), and 6 (FU2) and 24 months (FU3) after the CI. Baseline pBDNF was higher in patients with moderate AD (but not mild AD) than in healthy controls. At FU1, pBDNF and ADAS-Cogscore decreased significantly.

Cardioprotection by Conditioning Mimetic Drugs.

Background: At present, ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality world-wide. An important insight into both IHD pathophysiology and cardioprotection was achieved in 1986 when Murry et al. described for the first time the ischemic preconditioning (IP).

Association between Cognitive Status and Physical Activity: Study Profile on Baseline Survey of the My Mind Project.

Background: The incidence of people with dementia is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, but it seems that there is a relationship between an active lifestyle and cognitive decline. The present study aimed to compare the characteristics and engagement in the physical activity (PA) of three groups of Italian elderly with different cognitive statuses at baseline phase.

Methods: Data were examined using the results from the "My Mind Project" on 305 community-dwelling Italians.

Subjective memory complaints in Italian elderly with mild cognitive impairment: implication of psychological status.

Subjective cognitive and memory complaints (SMC) are common in later life and are considered an indicator for progression to cognitive decline. The aim of the present study was to identify the relationship among SMC, neuropsychiatric symptoms and psychological aspects in elderly subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as well as to analyse the effect on SMC of a comprehensive cognitive training. Data from a sample of 94 patients enrolled in 'My Mind Project' (Grant No.

The Effects of Cognitive Training for Elderly: Results from My Mind Project.

Cognitive decline and dementia represent very important public health problems that impact the ability to maintain social function and independent living. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a nonpharmacological intervention consisting of comprehensive cognitive training in elderly people having one of three different cognitive statuses. In all, 321 elderly people with a diagnoses of mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and without cognitive decline were randomly assigned to two groups: experimental group (EG, who underwent intervention) and control group (CG), according to a prospective randomized intervention study.

Cognitive Stimulation Modulates Platelet Total Phospholipases A2 Activity in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

We evaluated the effect of cognitive stimulation (CS) on platelet total phospholipases A2 activity (tPLA2A) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI_P). At baseline, tPLA2A negatively correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination score (MMSE_s): patients with MMSE_s <26 (Subgroup 1) had significantly higher activity than those with MMSE_s ≥26 (Subgroup 2), who had values similar to the healthy elderly. Regarding CS effect, Subgroup 1 had a significant tPLA2A reduction, whereas Subgroup 2 did not significantly changes after training.

Contribution of non-reference alleles in mtDNA of Alzheimer's disease patients.

Many observations suggest that mutations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) could be responsible for the neurodegenerative changes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we examined the signal intensity of the four alleles of each mtDNA nucleotide position (np) in whole blood of AD patients and age-matched controls using MitoChip v2.0 array.

Social isolation risk factors in older hospitalized individuals.

Background: Elderly people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of social reduction, so there is an urgent need to identify the risks associated with social isolation. The aim of this paper was to analyze associations between psychological, socio-demographic, functional aspects on the risk of social isolation, mortality and re-hospitalization in older persons.

Methods: This is a longitudinal study on 580 hospitalized elderly sample aged ≥70yrs recruited from 2005 to 2007 in the Geriatrics Operative Unit of INRCA in Fermo, Italy.

Prevalence of aging-associated cognitive decline in an Italian elderly population: results from cross-sectional phase of Italian PRoject on Epidemiology of Alzheimer's disease (IPREA).

Background And Aims: The prevalence of the preclinical phase of dementia varies greatly, according to the diagnostic criteria and assessment procedures applied. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment according to the Aging-Associated Cognitive Decline (AACD) diagnostic criteria in an Italian elderly population.

Methods: In a multicenter community-based prospective study, 4785 Italian subjects aged 65-84 years, randomly selected from the registries of 12 Italian municipalities, were assessed by personal and informant interviews, physical and neurological examinations and an extensive neuropsychological battery.

Cerebrovascular and brain microanatomy in spontaneously hypertensive rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

The influence of hypertension associated with diabetes on cerebrovascular and frontal cortex or hippocampus microanatomy was investigated in 20-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) in which diabetes was induced by treatment with streptozotocin (STZ) and in control or STZ-diabetic age-matched normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats. At the beginning of experiment, systolic pressure values were similar in WKY rats either control, or exposed to STZ and remarkably higher in control or STZ-treated SHR. Systolic pressure values increased in the different animal groups examined along the course of experiment.