Publications by authors named "S Niida"
Aging is a complex biological process. Several animal models, including nematodes, Drosophila, and rodents, have been used in research on aging mechanisms and the extension of healthy life expectancy. The present study investigated the physiological and anatomical changes associated with aging in two sub-strains of aged C57BL/6 mice used in aging research: C57Bl/6NCrSlc (B6N) and C57BL/6J (B6J).
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- Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common form of dementia, progressing faster and resulting in a poorer quality of life compared to Alzheimer's disease, with fewer genetic factors understood.
- A study of 1,744 Japanese individuals identified the CDH23 gene as significantly associated with DLB, showing links to auditory issues and subjective hearing loss in patients.
- The research found no significant HLA genotype associations with DLB, indicating a different pathology from Parkinson's disease, but the results need further validation in more diverse populations.
Article Synopsis
- Human genetic variants influence various traits, but the underlying mechanisms are still largely unclear.
- By studying around 260,000 Japanese participants and using a specific genotype reference panel, researchers identified over 4,400 significant genetic loci linked to 63 traits, with many being novel findings.
- The study highlighted the role of noncoding variants, particularly in untranslated regions, and emphasized the importance of genetic research in diverse populations to uncover functional variants and their impacts.
Laboratory rats, like mice, are a type of animal commonly used in scientific investigations as well as in basic aging and geriatric research. The selection of a rat strain is an important first step in the planning and design of an experiment due to physiological, anatomical, and ethological variations in each strain, which may significantly modify the expected results. In the present study, we characterized age-related changes, from 3 months old (mo) to 24 mo, in three male rat strains commonly used in medical research: RccHan:WIST (RccHan:WIST), F344/NSlc (F344), and Slc:SD Rat (SD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComorbid Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology is common in Lewy body disease (LBD); however, AD comorbidity in the prodromal phase of LBD remains unclear. This study investigated AD comorbidity in the prodromal and symptomatic phases of LBD by analyzing plasma biomarkers in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and individuals at risk of LBD (NaT-PROBE cohort). Patients with PD (PD group, n = 84) and DLB (DLB group, n = 16) and individuals with LBD with ≥ 2 (high-risk group, n = 82) and without (low-risk group, n = 37) prodromal symptoms were enrolled.
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