GeroScience
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). From the epidemiological data, the picture emerges that the more severe etiopathologies among COVID-19 patients are found in elderly people. The risk of death due to COVID-19 increases exponentially with age. ⋯ While the main source of infection transmission therefore is human to human, there are a few rare cases of pets contracting the infection from a SARS-CoV-2-infected human. Although there is no evidence that pets actively transmit SARS-CoV-2 via animal-to-human transmission, senior pet ownership potentially may pose a small risk to older adults by (1) potentially enabling animal-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the most vulnerable population and (2) by increasing the exposition risk for the elderly due to the necessity to care for the pet and, in the case of dogs, to take them outside the house several times per day. In this overview, the available evidence on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pets is considered and the potential for spread of COVID-19 from companion animals to older individuals and the importance of prevention are discussed.
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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.