Six-Month Lower Limb Aerobic Exercise Improves Physical Function in Young-Old, Old-Old, and Oldest-Old Adults.

The effect of aerobic exercise on physical function and mental health in various adult age groups (young-old, 65-74; old-old, 75-84; oldest-old, ≥ 85 years) is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the Kohzuki Exercise Program (KEP) on physical function and mental health in these age groups. The KEP consisted of 40-min supervised sessions 3 times per week for 6 months as follows: 5 min of warm-up, 30 min of lower limb aerobic exercise, and 5 min of cool-down. A total of 50 participants (22 young-old, 20 old-old, and 8 oldest-old) who participated in the KEP completed at least 88% of the sessions. In statistical analysis, 3 (group: oldest-old, old-old, young-old) × 2 (time: baseline and after 6 months) analyses of variance were used to determine if there were significant main and interaction effects. Significant interactions were probed using the post-hoc paired t test. The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score showed significant group × time interactions after 6 months (p = 0.031). In the post-hoc test, oldest-old (p < 0.001), old-old (p < 0.001), and young-old (p < 0.01) groups had significantly better physical function after 6 months. However, none of the mental health measures showed group × time interactions at 6-month. Our results suggest that a 6-month KEP led to improved physical function in oldest-old, old-old, and young-old adults. The KEP was effective for oldest-old adults in particular. The KEP exhibits good adherence, making it suitable for a wide age range in society.

Mangiferin Protects Retinal Ganglion Cells in Ischemic Mouse Retina via SIRT1.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether mangiferin can increase the viability of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in ischemic mouse retina, and to determine the possible mechanism of neuroprotection. METHODS: C57BL/6J mice underwent constant elevation of intraocular pressure for 60 min and received saline or mangiferin (30 mg/kg) intraperitoneally once daily until sacrifice. HIF-1α, GFAP and SIRT1 expression was assessed at 1, 4, and 7 days after retinal ischemia. Bax and Bcl-2 expression was also analyzed at 1 and 4 days. RGC survival was assessed by labeling flat-mounted retinas with Brn3a at 2 weeks after retinal ischemia. The effect of co-treatment with mangiferin and sirtinol (SIRT1 inhibitor) was also evaluated. RESULTS: The expression of HIF-1α and GFAP was upregulated in saline-treated retinas within 7 days after ischemia. Mangiferin treatment suppressed this upregulation. The expression of SIRT1 was downregulated in saline-treated ischemic retinas. This downregulation was reversed by mangiferin treatment, resulting in a significant difference from saline-treated ischemic retinas. In mangiferin-treated ischemic retinas, Bax expression was downregulated, whereas Bcl-2 expression was upregulated in comparison with saline-treated ischemic retinas. Mangiferin treatment protected ischemic retinas against RGC loss. Treatment of sirtinol decreased the neuroprotective effect of mangiferin. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that mangiferin has a neuroprotective effect on RGC through downregulation of HIF-1a and GFAP, and upregulation of SIRT1 in ischemic mouse retinas. We suggest that mangiferin might be a potential neuroprotective agent against RGC loss under oxidative stress.

Macular inner plexiform and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To compare the parameters of the macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thickness measured by Cirrus high-definition optical coherence tomography in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS: Eighty patients with NTG, 80 patients with POAG, and 100 normal control subjects were enrolled. The mGCIPL and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thicknesses measured by Cirrus high-definition optical coherence tomography were compared in patients with glaucoma. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AROCs) were calculated to compare the diagnostic power of the mGCIPL thickness with that of the pRNFL thickness. Pearson correlation coefficients were determined to investigate the correlation between the mGCIPL or pRNFL thickness parameters and the mean deviation (MD) values of visual field tests. RESULTS: All parameters of the mGCIPL thickness were significantly different between normal control subjects and patients with glaucoma. The superior, superotemporal, and superonasal thickness of mGCIPL and the superior thickness of pRNFL showed significant reductions and significantly higher AROCs for distinguishing between normal eyes and eyes with glaucoma in POAG compared with those in NTG. In NTG or POAG groups, the mGCIPL and pRNFL parameters with the highest AROC were the minimum and average thickness, respectively. The average, minimum, inferior, inferotemporal, and inferonasal thickness of mGCIPL and the average and inferior thickness of pRNFL were correlated with MD in NTG (p < 0.05 for all parameters), whereas all parameters of the mGCIPL thickness except the inferonasal thickness and all parameters of the pRNFL thickness except the temporal thickness were correlated with MD in POAG (p < 0.05 for all parameters). CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic ability of the mGCIPL thickness was comparable to that of the pRNFL thickness in patients with NTG or POAG. The mGCIPL loss in NTG was localized and mainly concentrated on the inferior portion compared with diffuse mGCIPL loss in POAG.

Anti-inflammatory effect of methanol extract from Erigeron Canadensis L. may be involved with upregulation of heme oxygenase-1 expression and suppression of NFκB and MAPKs activation in macrophages.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: In this study, we determined the anti-inflammatory activities and the underlying molecular mechanisms of the methanol extract from Erigeron Canadensis L. (ECM) in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: The potential anti-inflammatory properties of ECM were investigated by using RAW264.7 macrophages. We used western blot assays and real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to detect protein and mRNA expression, respectively. Luciferase assays were performed to determine the transactivity of transcription factors. RESULTS: ECM significantly inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-derived NO and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) derived PGE2 production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. These inhibitory effects of ECM were accompanied by decreases in LPS-induced nuclear translocations and transactivities of NFκB. Moreover, phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPKs) including extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK1/2), p38, and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) was significantly suppressed by ECM in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Further studies demonstrated that ECM by itself induced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein expression at the protein levels in dose-dependent manner. However, zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP), a selective HO-1 inhibitor, abolished the ECM-induced suppression of NO production. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that ECM-induced HO-1 expression was partly responsible for the resulting anti-inflammatory effects. These findings suggest that ECM exerts anti-inflammatory actions and help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the potential therapeutic values of Erigeron Canadensis L.

Clinical validity of macular ganglion cell complex by spectral domain-optical coherence tomography in advanced glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the repeatability and diagnostic power of macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness using a spectral domain-optical coherence tomography in advanced glaucoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty advanced glaucoma patients were enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups of 20 patients each, according to the MD between -20 and -10 dB, and <-20 dB. The thickness of mGCC and pRNFL were measured with spectral domain-optical coherence tomography in both the groups. The repeatability of each parameter was assessed in both the groups, and the diagnostic power of each parameter was compared with the normal controls. RESULTS: Comparison of diagnostic power between the pRNFL and mGCC parameters revealed that the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was not significantly different in patients with advanced glaucoma. The repeatability of pRNFL parameters was similar, irrespective of the severity of glaucoma. However, the repeatability of mGCC parameters became lower as the severity increased in patients with advanced glaucoma. CONCLUSIONS: In advanced glaucoma, the measurement of mGCC thickness has similar diagnostic power as the measurement of pRNFL thickness. However, the measurement of mGCC thickness showed a lower repeatability as MD decreased.

Diagnostic validity of macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness deviation map algorithm using cirrus HD-OCT in preperimetric and early glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic validity of macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL) thickness deviation map algorithm using Cirrus high definition-optical coherence tomography to discriminate between normal controls and patients with preperimetric or early glaucoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-two normal controls, 37 patients with preperimetric glaucoma and 70 patients with early glaucoma were enrolled. mGCIPL thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness were measured by Cirrus high definition-optical coherence tomography. Areas showing abnormal color coding were obtained by customized Image J software calculating the number of abnormal superpixels at 1% and 5% level in each deviation map of measurements (GCIPL-DM1, GCIPL-DM5, RNFL-DM1, RNFL-DM5). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AROC) of each parameter was calculated to provide diagnostic ability between normal controls and patients with preperimetric or early glaucoma. RESULTS: AROCs of the deviation map algorithms were higher than those of other parameters. Parameter with the best AROC was the GCIPL-DM5 (0.920 and 0.968) in both preperimetric and early glaucoma. The sensitivities of the GCIPL-DM5 at 80% and 95% specificities were 92% and 68% in preperimetric glaucoma and 98% and 90% in early glaucoma, respectively. Pairwise comparisons between AROCs of parameters from deviation map algorithms did not show statistically significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: mGCIPL thickness deviation map showed good diagnostic ability in detecting preperimetric and early glaucoma, and it was comparable with pRNFL thickness deviation map. Our findings suggest that it can be an important parameter in detecting subtle glaucomatous structural change.

The effect of melatonin on retinal ganglion cell survival in ischemic retina.

Our objective was to determine whether melatonin increases retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival in ischemic mouse retina. Transient retinal ischemia was induced by an acute elevation of intraocular pressure in C57BL/6 mice. To evaluate the effect of melatonin on retinal ischemia, an equal amount of either melatonin or vehicle was intraperitoneally injected into the mice 1 hour before ischemia, at the time of ischemia, and 1 hour after ischemia. Hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression were assessed 6, 12, and 24 hours after ischemia-reperfusion by Western blot. RGC survival was measured 2 weeks after ischemia-reperfusion. The expression of HIF-1α and GFAP peaked 24 hours after ischemia-reperfusion in ischemic retina. The treatment of ischemic retina with melatonin resulted in the inhibition of increased expression of HIF-1α and GFAP. RGC survival was greater in retinas treated with melatonin than in retinas treated with vehicle 2 weeks after ischemia-reperfusion. On the basis of our results, we suggest that melatonin treatment increased RGC survival in ischemic mouse retina. The neuroprotective effect of melatonin is mediated by the inhibition of HIF-1α stabilization and reduced activity of glial cells in ischemic mouse retina.

Involvement of heme oxygenase-1 in the anti-inflammatory activity of Chrysanthemum boreale Makino extracts on the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in RAW264.7 macrophages.

AIM OF THE STUDY: This study is to elucidate the involvement of anti-inflammatory heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in the inhibitory activity of a Chrysanthemum boreale Makino (CB) extract on nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell viability and NO assay were performed. In addition, iNOS expression was detected by Western blotting and real-time PCR. HO-1 expression was also evaluated by Western blotting, and blocking HO-1 activity on NO production was performed. RESULTS: The CB extract at the highest concentration (100 µg/ml) significantly inhibited NO production by approximately 90% and suppressed iNOS protein expression by approximately 84.8% compared to LPS-stimulated cells. Furthermore, the CB extract (100 µg/ml) inhibited iNOS mRNA expression in a concentration-dependant manner and suppressed iNOS mRNA expression by 94.8%. The CB extract induced the expression of HO-1 in a dose-dependent manner, and blocking HO-1 activity abolished the inhibitory effects of the CB extract. Moreover, the addition of carbon monoxide such as tricarbonyl dichlororuthenium (II) dimmer (RuCO), a byproduct derived from heme degradation, mimicked the inhibitory action of low concentrations of CB extract. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a CB extract has potent anti-inflammatory activity in RAW264.7 macrophages involving the induction of HO-1.