GeroScience
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Following the introduction of unprecedented "stay-at-home" national policies, the COVID-19 pandemic recently started declining in Europe. Our research aims were to characterize the changepoint in the flow of the COVID-19 epidemic in each European country and to evaluate the association of the level of social distancing with the observed decline in the national epidemics. Interrupted time series analyses were conducted in 28 European countries. ⋯ In these countries, other plausible COVID-19 containment measures could contribute to controlling the first wave of the disease. The association of social distance quartiles with viral spread could also be hindered by local bottlenecks in infection control. Our results allow for moderate optimism related to the gradual lifting of social distance measures in the general population, and call for specific attention to the protection of focal micro-societies enriching high-risk elderly subjects, including nursing homes and chronic care facilities.
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SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of the coronavirus infectious disease-19 (COVID-19), is taking the globe by storm, approaching 500,000 confirmed cases and over 21,000 deaths as of March 25, 2020. While under control in some affected Asian countries (Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam), the virus demonstrated an exponential phase of infectivity in several large countries (China in late January and February and many European countries and the USA in March), with cases exploding by 30-50,000/day in the third and fourth weeks of March, 2020. ⋯ Here, we briefly review the virus, its structure and evolution, epidemiology and pathogenesis, immunogenicity and immune, and clinical response in older adults, using available knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 and its highly pathogenic relatives MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-1. We conclude by discussing clinical and basic science approaches to protect older adults against this disease.
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Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), commonly called progeria, is an extremely rare disorder that affects only one child per four million births. It is characterized by accelerated aging in affected individuals leading to premature death at an average age of 14.5 years due to cardiovascular complications. The main cause of HGPS is a sporadic autosomal dominant point mutation in LMNA gene resulting in differently spliced lamin A protein known as progerin. ⋯ The current review focuses on the overall progress in the field of therapeutic approaches for the management/cure of HGPS. We have also discussed the new disease models that have been developed for the study of this rare disorder. Moreover, we have highlighted the therapeutic application of extracellular vesicles derived from stem cells against aging and aging-related disorders and, therefore, suggest the same for the treatment of HGPS.
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The anti-hyperglycemic medication metformin has potential to be the first drug tested to slow aging in humans. While the Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) proposal and other small-scale clinical trials have the potential to support aging as a treatment indication, we propose that the goals of the TAME trial might not be entirely consistent with the Geroscience goal of extending healthspan. ⋯ However, it remains to be understood if these protective effects extend to those free of chronic disease. Within this editorial, we seek to highlight critical gaps in knowledge that should be considered when testing metformin as a treatment to target aging.