Daily exercise improves memory, stimulates hippocampal neurogenesis and modulates immune and neuroimmune cytokines in aging rats.

We tested whether daily exercise modulates immune and neuroimmune cytokines, hippocampus-dependent behavior and hippocampal neurogenesis in aging male F344 rats (18mo upon arrival). Twelve weeks after conditioned running or control group assignment, the rats were trained and tested in a rapid water maze followed by an inhibitory avoidance task. The rats were BrdU-injected beginning 12days after behavioral testing and killed 3weeks later to quantify cytokines and neurogenesis.

Potential of treating age-related depression and cognitive decline with nutraceutical approaches: a mini-review.

A variety of consumable plant-derived phytochemicals exhibit nutraceutical properties because they produce physiological benefits and combat disease processes. Emerging evidence suggests that widely accessible and safe organic polyphenolic phytochemicals, in particular, treat depression at much lower concentrations than clinical doses of classical drugs. Structurally similar polyphenolics such as curcumin, resveratrol, and proanthocyanidins exhibit antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties and recent research suggests that they also modulate hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, serotonergic transmission and hippocampal neurogenesis (perhaps via their effects on serotonin and HPA activity).

Environmental enrichment restores neurogenesis and rapid acquisition in aged rats.

Strategies combatting cognitive decline among the growing aging population are vital. We tested whether environmental enrichment could reverse age-impaired rapid spatial search strategy acquisition concomitantly with hippocampal neurogenesis in rats. Young (5-8 months) and aged (20-22 months) male Fischer 344 rats were pair-housed and exposed to environmental enrichment (n = 7 young, 9 aged) or housed individually (n = 7 young, 7 aged) for 10 weeks.

Marrow cell therapies for cardiovascular diseases.

The nascent field of regenerative medicine has taken root in cardiovascular disease. Preclinical data demonstrating hemangioblast potential of marrow cells and cardioprotective effects of growth factors served as the basis for numerous early phase clinical trials. With the first wave of safety and efficacy trials complete, much is still unknown regarding optimal cell dose and type, timing of injection, route of administration, mechanisms of action, and achievable response measures.