Patterns and correlates of old-age social exclusion in the Balkan states.

Social exclusion (SE), or the separation of individuals and groups from mainstream society, is associated with poor health and wellbeing, yet a substantial number of older people are socially excluded. There is increasing agreement that SE is multidimensional, comprising among others social relations, material resources, and/or civic participation. However, measuring SE is still challenging as exclusion may occur in more than one dimension, whereas its sum does not reflect the content of SE. To account for these challenges, this study provides a typology of SE and describes how SE types differ from each other in terms of severity and risk factors. We concentrate on Balkan states, which are among the European countries with the highest prevalence of SE. Data come from the European Quality of Life Survey (N = 3030, age 50 +). Latent Class Analysis revealed four SE types: low SE risk (50%), material exclusion (23%), material and social exclusion (4%), and multidimensional exclusion (23%). A higher number of dimensions from which a person is excluded are associated with more severe outcomes. Multinomial regression further revealed that lower levels of education, lower subjective health, and lower social trust increase the risks of any SE type. Younger age, unemployment, and not having a partner are associated with specific SE types. This study is in line with the limited evidence that different types of SE exist. Policies designed to reduce SE should take account of the different SE types and specific associated risk factors in order to enhance the impact of interventions to reduce social exclusion.

Advanced type 1 diabetes is associated with ASIC alterations in mouse lower thoracic dorsal root ganglia neurons.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons are proton sensors during ischemia and inflammation. Little is known about their role in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Our study was focused on ASICs alterations determined by advanced T1D status. Primary neuronal cultures were obtained from lower (T9-T12) thoracic DRG neurons from Balb/c and TCR-HA(+/-)/Ins-HA(+/-) diabetic male mice (16 weeks of age). Patch-clamp recordings indicate a change in the number of small DRG neurons presenting different ASIC-type currents. Multiple molecular sites of ASICs are distinctly affected in T1D, probably due to particular steric constraints for glycans accessibility to the active site: (i) ASIC1 current inactivates faster, while ASIC2 is slower; (ii) PcTx1 partly reverts diabetes effects against ASIC1- and ASIC2-inactivations; (iii) APETx2 maintains unaltered potency against ASIC3 current amplitude, but slows ASIC3 inactivation. Immunofluorescence indicates opposite regulation of different ASIC transcripts while qRT-PCR shows that ASIC mRNA ranking (ASIC2 > ASIC1 > ASIC3) remains unaltered. In conclusion, our study has identified biochemical and biophysical ASIC changes in lower thoracic DRG neurons due to advanced T1D. As hypoalgesia is present in advanced T1D, ASICs alterations might be the cause or the consequence of diabetic insensate neuropathy.

TRPV1 properties in thoracic dorsal root ganglia neurons are modulated by intraperitoneal capsaicin administration in the late phase of type-1 autoimmune diabetes.

Pharmacological therapies in type 1 diabetes for efficient control of glycemia and changes in pain alterations due to diabetic neuropathy are a continuous challenge. Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons is one of the main pharmacological targets in diabetes, and its ligand capsaicin can be a promising compound for blood-glucose control. Our goal is to elucidate the effect of intraperitoneal (i.p.) capsaicin administration in type 1 diabetic mice against TRPV1 receptors from pancreatic DRG primary afferent neurons. A TCR(+/-)/Ins-HA(+/-) diabetic mice (dTg) was used, and patch-clamp and immunofluorescence microscopy measurements have been performed on thoracic T(9)-T(12) DRG neurons. Capsaicin (800 µg/kg, i.p. three successive days) administration in the late-phase diabetes reduces blood-glucose levels, partly reverses the TRPV1 current density and recovery time constant, without any effect on TRPV1 expression general pattern, in dTg mice. A TRPV1 hypoalgesia profile was observed in late-phase diabetes, which was partly reversed to normoalgesic profile upon capsaicin i.p. administration. According to the soma dimensions of the thoracic DRG neurons, a detailed analysis of the TRPV1 expression upon capsaicin i.p. treatment was done, and the proportion of large A-fiber neurons expressing TRPV1 increased in dTg capsaicin-treated mice. In conclusion, the benefits of low-dose capsaicin intraperitoneal treatment in late-phase type-1 diabetes should be further exploited.

Dual effect of methylglyoxal on the intracellular Ca2+ signaling and neurite outgrowth in mouse sensory neurons.

The formation of advanced glycation end products is one of the major factors involved in diabetic neuropathy, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases. Reactive carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal (MG), play a key role in cross-linking to various proteins in the extracellular matrix, especially in neurons, which have a high rate of oxidative metabolism. The MG effect was tested on dorsal root ganglia primary neurons in cultures from adult male Balb/c mice. Lower MG doses contribute to an increased adherence of neurons on their support and an increased glia proliferation, as proved by MTS assay and bright-field microscopy. Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy by Fura-2 was performed for monitoring the relative fluorescence ratio changes (ΔR/R(0)) upon depolarization and immunofluorescence staining for quantifying the degree of neurites extension. The relative change in fluorescence ratio modifies the amplitude and dispersion depending on the subtype of sensory neurons, the medium-sized neurons are more sensitive to MG treatment when compared to small ones. Low MG concentrations (0-150 µM) increase neuronal viability, excitability, and the capacity of neurite extension, while higher concentrations (250-750 µM) are cytotoxic in a dose-dependent manner. In our opinion, MG could be metabolized by the glyoxalase system inside sensory neurons up to a threshold concentration, afterwards disturbing the cell equilibrium. Our study points out that MG has a dual effect concentration dependent on the neuronal viability, excitability, and neurite outgrowth, but only the excitability changes are soma-sized dependent. In conclusion, our data may partially explain the distinct neuronal modifications in various neurodegenerative pathologies.

Epidemiological survey 6 years apart: increased prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases in schoolchildren aged 13-14 years in cluj-napoca, romania (based on isaac questionnaire).

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of asthma and allergy has increased during recent decades. OBJECTIVE: We investigate the prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases in children aged 13-14 years and we evaluate the trend of prevalence after an interval of 6 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used a core questionnaire designed by the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Children. In 1991, the questionnaire was administered to 2,866 children from a Romanian city and during 2001 to 1,657 children from the same area. RESULTS: The prevalence of asthma increased from 3.3% in 1995 to 5.5% in 2001 (p<0.001). In 1995, 4.3% of children reported asthma-related symptoms, significantly fewer than the percentage 6 years later (13.6%; p<0.00001). Similar results were obtained with regard to allergic rhinitis (13.6% versus 20%; p<0.00001) and eczema (11.5% versus 16.2%; p=0.00015). As far as gender differences are concerned, in the first stage of study all three allergic disorders were found to occur more frequently in females. In the study undertaken in 2001, females proved to have a higher prevalence of asthma (p=0.226), but a lower prevalence for allergic rhinitis (p=0.121) and eczema (p=0.064). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of asthma and allergy increased significantly during the past 6 years.