Inflammaging and Immunosenescence as Part of Skin Aging-A Narrative Review.

Inflammaging and immunosenescence are associated with aging of the human body, but there are key differences between them. Immunosenescence aims to adapt the body systems to aging, while inflammaging is considered a consequence of immunosenescence. There has been much research in the area of immunosenescence and inflammaging recently, yet our understanding of aging and the ability to develop interventions to decrease the harmful effect of aging on the human body is insufficient. This review is focused on immunosenescence and inflammaging processes in the skin. We aimed to identify factors that influence inflammaging, skin aging, and their mechanisms. We discussed the role of triggering factors (e.g., UV radiations, changes in bioavailability of nitric oxide, senescence-associated secretory phenotype factors, and reactive oxygen species) and inhibiting factors that can potentially be used as anti-aging treatments, as well as the idea of geroprotectors and senotherapeutics. We concluded that while knowledge on external factors can help people to improve their health conditions, knowledge on biochemical factors can help researchers to understand inflammaging process and develop interventions to minimize the impact of aging on the human body. Further research is needed to better understand the role of factors that can slow down or accelerate inflammaging.

Prevention of Ageing-The Role of Micro-Needling in Neck and Cleavage Rejuvenation: A Narrative Review.

Although interest in aesthetic medicine is growing, the focus is often placed outside of the facial area, namely on the skin of the neck and cleavage. Exposure to the sun and muscle movements cause the prompt development of wrinkles that may appear there, even before they show up on the face. We conducted a literature review devoted to micro-needling to identify its role in anti-ageing treatments and to determine the gaps in current knowledge. A search in Medline identified 52 publications for neck and face micro-needling. Micro-needling is an anti-ageing procedure that involves making micro-punctures in the skin to induce skin remodelling by stimulating the fibroblasts responsible for collagen and elastin production. It can be applied to the skin of the face, neck, and cleavage. Two to four weeks should be allowed between repeated procedures to achieve an optimal effect. The increase in collagen and elastin in the skin can reach 400% after 6 months, with an increase in the thickness of the stratum granulosum occurring for up to 1 year. In conclusion, micro-needling can be considered an effective and safe aesthetic medicine procedure which is conducted at low costs due to its low invasiveness, low number of adverse reactions, and short recovery time. Little evidence identified in the literature suggests that this procedure requires further research.

miRNA-146a-5p is upregulated in serum and cartilage samples of patients with osteoarthritis.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widely prevalent joint disease leading to motor disability and pain. Appropriate indicators for identifying patients at risk for this progressive disease, identifying molecular events for detecting early phases of the disease, or biomarkers to screen for treatment responses, however, are lacking. Micro RNAs (miRNAs), which play crucial roles in OA, could be potential biomarkers of OA. Because circulating miRNA levels reflect the disease state, they may be useful for OA screening and as diagnostic tools, reducing the need for invasive procedures and minimizing the cost of current diagnostic methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression levels of 18 microRNAs (let-7e-5p, miR-21-5p, miR-93-5p, miR-101-3p, miR-103a-3p, miR-130a-3p miR-146a-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-193b-3p miR-199a-3p, miR-210-3p, miR-222-3p, miR-22-3p, miR-27a-3p, miR-27b-3p, miR-335-5p, miR-454-3p, and miR-98-5p) were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in the cartilage tissues and serum samples of 28 OA patients and were compared to those of 2 healthy controls. RESULTS: Expression of microRNA-146a-5p was significantly upregulated in the cartilage (p=0.006) and serum (p=0.002) of OA patients. The expression levels of miR-146a-5p in the serum were positively correlated with those in the cartilage (Pearson correlation coefficient R=0.32; p=0.002). CONCLUSION: miR-146a-5p was significantly overexpressed in patients with OA, both in the articular cartilage tissue and serum, with a positive correlation between the levels in both types of samples. Therefore, the miR-146a-5p serum level could reflect the molecular processes in the cartilage, suggesting its clinical utility as a biomarker for OA management. Implementing noninvasive biomarker using serum miRNAs involves the analysis of the misregulated miRNAs linked to the cartilage pathology.

FTIR Spectroscopy of Cerebrospinal Fluid Reveals Variations in the Lipid: Protein Ratio at Different Stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a disease of advanced civilization and a common form of dementia in people over 65 years of age. We used Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with principal component analysis (PCA) to determine changes in the quantity and quality of the cerebrospinal fluid from AD patients at three different stages of the disease (ADI, ADII, and ADIII), as well as from patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Moreover, based on the FTIR spectra, we calculated the ratio of α-helix and ß-sheet secondary protein structures as well as the lipid-protein balance as potential AD markers. The FTIR spectra of cerebrospinal fluid obtained from MCI, ADI, ADII, and ADIII patients showed that peaks corresponding to protein and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), and phospholipid and lipid vibrations were shifted in comparison with those of control subjects. Furthermore, the levels of these chemical compounds were lower in the patients than in the control subjects. The ß-sheet secondary protein structure levels were increased in the MCI and AD patients compared with the control subjects. In addition, significant changes in the lipid-protein balance were observed. Interestingly, as the disease progressed, the lipid-protein balance became further disrupted, that is, the lipid amount decreased with disease progression. PCA analysis of lipid-protein FTIR regions revealed that the spectra could be used to distinguish between controls and patients with MCI, ADI, ADII, and ADIII.

Curcumin-mediated decrease in the expression of nucleolar organizer regions in cervical cancer (HeLa) cells.

Curcumin, the major yellow-orange pigment of turmeric derived from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, is a highly pleiotropic molecule with the potential to modulate inflammation, oxidative stress, cell survival, cell secretion, homeostasis and proliferation. Curcumin, at relatively high concentrations, was repeatedly reported to be a potent inducer of apoptosis in cancer cells and thus considered a promising anticancer agent. In the present paper, the effects of low concentrations of curcumin on human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells were studied. We found curcumin-mediated decrease in the cell number and viability, and increase in apoptotic events and superoxide level. In contrast to previously shown curcumin cytotoxicity toward different cervical cancer lines, we observed toxic effects when even as low as 1 µM concentration of curcumin was used. Curcumin was not genotoxic to HeLa cells. Because argyrophilic nucleolar protein (AgNOR protein) expression is elevated in malignant cells compared to normal cells reflecting the rapidity of cancer cell proliferation, we evaluated curcumin-associated changes in size (area) and number of silver deposits. We showed curcumin-induced decrease in AgNOR protein pools, which may be mediated by global DNA hypermethylation observed after low concentration curcumin treatment. In summary, we have shown for the first time that curcumin at low micromolar range may be effective against HeLa cells, which may have implications for curcumin-based treatment of cervical cancer in humans.