The effects of advanced maternal age on T-cell subsets at the maternal-fetal interface prior to term labor and in the offspring: a mouse study.

Women who conceive at 35 years of age or older, commonly known as advanced maternal age, have a higher risk of facing parturition complications and their children have an increased risk of developing diseases later in life. However, the immunological mechanisms underlying these pathological processes have yet to be established. To fill this gap in knowledge, using a murine model and immunophenotyping, we determined the effect of advanced maternal age on the main cellular branch of adaptive immunity, T cells, at the maternal-fetal interface and in the offspring. We report that advanced maternal age impaired the process of labor at term, inducing dystocia and delaying the timing of delivery. Advanced maternal age diminished the number of specific proinflammatory T-cell subsets [T helper type 1 (Th1): CD4+ IFN-γ+ , CD8+ IFN-γ+ and Th9: CD4+ IL-9+ ], as well as CD4+ regulatory T cells (CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ T cells), at the maternal-fetal interface prior to term labor. Advanced maternal age also altered fetal growth and survival of the offspring in early life. In addition, infants born to advanced-age mothers had alterations in the T-cell repertoire but not in CD71+ erythroid cells (CD3- CD71+ TER119+ cells). This study provides insight into the immune alterations observed at the maternal-fetal interface of advanced-age mothers and their offspring.

Comprehensive care of elderly patients in a surgical/geriatric unit.

In Sunderland, acute medical hospital admissions for patients aged 65 and over are cared for primarily by the Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine. Many patients have associated surgical problems, and since 1954 these have been investigated and treated in the Surgical/Geriatric wards. This paper examines the type of work encountered and attempts to evaluate the benefits of this combined approach.

Effect of sieved buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) flour supplementation on lipid profile and glucose tolerance.

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) was picked up for a study of its effects on lipid profile and glucose tolerance in view of its relatively high fibre content. In earlier studies, we demonstrated that supplementing the daily diet with 100 g whole buckwheat flour raised the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)/cholesterol ratio and improved glucose tolerance. In the present study, 12 human volunteers replaced part of their cereal intake at lunch by a preparation made from 100 g sieved buckwheat flour for a period of 4 weeks. At the end of 4 wk, there was a significant rise in HDL-C from 42.8 +/- 11.4 mg/100 ml to 55.2 +/- 15.3 mg/100 ml (P less than 0.05), and in HDL-C/cholesterol ratio from 26.7 +/- 7.0% to 33.8 +/- 10.2% (P less than 0.02): The other changes in lipid profile were not significant. There was also no significant change in fasting blood glucose or oral glucose tolerance in the 5 subjects on whom the test was done. Comparing the results with the observations made earlier on whole buckwheat, it is still not possible to say to what extent the effects of buckwheat on lipids may be attributed to its fibre content. The effects on glucose tolerance, on the other hand, seem to be more directly related to the fibre content.