Introduction: This study investigates the impact of invasive procedures on healthcare-associated infections (HAI) at Policlinico Universitario Tor Vergata in Rome, Italy, aiming to understand their role in device-associated HAI and to inform prevention strategies.
Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted, examining mandatory discharge records and microbiology data from 2018 across all departments. The study focused on adult patients, analysing the correlation between invasive procedures and HAI through univariate and multivariate logistic regression.
Elevated plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) is associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. In this study, we report the relationship between tHcy and epigenetic age in older adults with mild cognitive impairment from the VITACOG study. Epigenetic age and rate of aging (ROA) were assessed using various epigenetic clocks, including those developed by Horvath and Hannum, DNAmPhenoAge, and with a focus on Index, a new principal component-based epigenetic clock that, like DNAmPhenoAge, is trained to predict an individual's "PhenoAge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) burden healthcare globally. Amid the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, intensified infection control measures, such as mask usage and hand hygiene, were implemented.
Aim: To assess the efficacy of these measures in preventing HAIs among hospitalized patients.
Background: Standard precautions (SPs) are first-line strategies with a dual goal: to protect health care workers from occupational contamination while providing care to infected patients and to prevent/reduce health care-associated infections (HAIs). This study aimed at (1) identifying the instruments currently available for measuring healthcare professionals' compliance with standard precautions; (2) evaluating their measurement properties; and (3) providing sound evidence for instrument selection for use by researchers, teachers, staff trainers, and clinical tutors.
Methods: We carried out a systematic review to examine the psychometric properties of standard precautions self-assessment instruments in conformity with the COSMIN guidelines.
Background: Nursing education consists of theory and practice, and student nurses' perception of the learning environment, both educational and clinical, is one of the elements that determines the success or failure of their university study path. This study aimed to identify the currently available tools for measuring the clinical and educational learning environments of student nurses and to evaluate their measurement properties in order to provide solid evidence for researchers, educators, and clinical tutors to use in the selection of tools.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the psychometric properties of self-reported learning environment tools in accordance with the Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) Guidelines of 2018.
Introduction: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are major public health threats in upper- and lower-middle-income countries. Electronic health records (EHRs) are an invaluable source of data for achieving different goals, including the early detection of HAIs and AMR clusters within healthcare settings; evaluation of attributable incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs); and implementation of governance policies. In Italy, the burden of HAIs is estimated to be 702.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aims: The prevalence of NAFLD is increasing globally and on a path to becoming the most frequent cause of chronic liver disease. Strategies for the prevention and treatment of NAFLD are urgently needed.
Approach And Results: A 6-month prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of daily NRPT (commercially known as Basis, a combination of nicotinamide riboside and pterostilbene) supplementation in 111 adults with NAFLD.
Dysferlinopathies are muscular dystrophies caused by recessive loss-of-function mutations in dysferlin (), a membrane protein involved in skeletal muscle membrane repair. We describe a cell-based assay in which human DYSF proteins bearing missense mutations are quantitatively assayed for membrane localization by flow cytometry and identified 64 localization-defective DYSF mutations. Using this platform, we show that the clinically approved drug 4-phenylbutryric acid (4-PBA) partially restores membrane localization to 25 mutations, as well as membrane repair to cultured myotubes expressing 2 different mutations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Preclinical studies have identified both NAD and sirtuin augmentation as potential strategies for the prevention and treatment of AKI. Nicotinamide riboside (NR) is a NAD precursor vitamin and pterostilbene (PT) is potent sirtuin activator found in blueberries. Here, we tested the effect of combined NR and PT (NRPT) on whole blood NAD levels and safety parameters in patients with AKI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNicotinamide riboside (NR) is a naturally occurring form of vitamin B3 shown to preferentially elevate the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) metabolome compared to other vitamin B3 forms (nicotinic acid and nicotinamide). Although daily requirements of vitamin B3 are typically met through the diet, recent studies have shown that additional supplementation with NR may be an effective method to counter the age-related decline in NAD+ levels as NR bypasses the rate-limiting step in NAD+ biosynthesis. Furthermore, pharmaceutical applications of NR for age-related disorders have been proposed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdvanced age and the allele are the two biggest risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and declining cognitive function. We describe a universal gauge to measure molecular brain age using transcriptome analysis of four human postmortem cohorts (n = 673, ages 25-97) free of neurological disease. In a fifth cohort of older subjects with or without neurological disease (n = 438, ages 67-108), we show that subjects with brains deviating in the older direction from what would be expected based on chronological age show an increase in AD, Parkinson's disease, and cognitive decline.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe tissue decline due to aging is associated with the deterioration of adult stem cell function. Here we show the number and proliferative activity of intestinal stem cells (ISCs) but not Paneth cells decline during aging, as does ISC function assessed ex vivo. Levels of SIRT1 and activity of mTORC1 also decline with aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener
February 2019
Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease, characterized by progressive loss of spinal and cortical motor neurons, leading to muscular atrophy, respiratory failure, and ultimately death. There is no known cure, and the clinical benefit of the two drugs approved to treat ALS remains unclear. Novel disease-modifying therapeutics that are able to modulate the disease course are desperately needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSIRT1 is an NAD -dependent deacetylase that functions in a variety of cells and tissues to mitigate age-associated diseases. However, it remains unknown if SIRT1 also acts to prevent pathological changes that accrue in motor neurons during aging and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this study, we show that SIRT1 expression decreases in the spinal cord of wild-type mice during normal aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA decline in capillary density and blood flow with age is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Understanding why this occurs is key to future gains in human health. NAD precursors reverse aspects of aging, in part, by activating sirtuin deacylases (SIRT1-SIRT7) that mediate the benefits of exercise and dietary restriction (DR).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is characterized by lipid accumulation and liver injury. However, how chronic alcohol consumption causes hepatic lipid accumulation remains elusive. The present study demonstrates that activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) plays a causal role in alcoholic steatosis, inflammation, and liver injury.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInflammation is a common denominator in chronic diseases of aging. Yet, how inflammation fuels these diseases remains unknown. Neutrophils are the primary leukocytes involved in the early phase of innate immunity and inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNRPT is a combination of nicotinamide riboside (NR), a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD precursor vitamin found in milk, and pterostilbene (PT), a polyphenol found in blueberries. Here, we report this first-in-humans clinical trial designed to assess the safety and efficacy of a repeat dose of NRPT (commercially known as Basis). NRPT was evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled study in a population of 120 healthy adults between the ages of 60 and 80 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOverexpression or pharmacological activation of SIRT1 has been shown to extend the lifespan of mice and protect against aging-related diseases. Here we show that pharmacological activation of SIRT1 protects in two models of osteoporosis. Ovariectomized female mice and aged male mice, models for post-menopausal and aging-related osteoporosis, respectively, show significant improvements in bone mass upon treatment with SIRT1 agonist, SRT1720.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF