Age
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Multicenter Study
Glomerular filtration rate in the elderly and in the oldest old: correlation with frailty and mortality.
The equations for estimating kidney function have become very popular in the last decade. However, the clinical and prognostic meaning of these measures may be very different in older populations. Two cohorts of people aged 65-89 years (older sample) and 90 or more (oldest old sample) were used to investigate the prognostic significance of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). ⋯ In conclusion, a U-shaped relationship exists between eGFR and mortality in the oldest old, but not in older individuals. Our findings suggest that eGFR needs to be adjusted for muscle mass/physical performance when estimating kidney function in people aged 90 or more. Nevertheless, in subjects aged 65-89 years, eGFR may improve the accuracy of frailty status in predicting prognosis, thus suggesting that eGFR may represent an additional dimension of frailty syndrome.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
FNDC5 (irisin) gene and exceptional longevity: a functional replication study with rs16835198 and rs726344 SNPs.
Irisin might play an important role in reducing the risk of obesity, insulin resistance, or several related diseases, and high irisin levels may contribute to successful aging. Thus, the irisin precursor (FNDC5) gene is a candidate to influence exceptional longevity (EL), i.e., being a centenarian. It has been recently shown that two single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the FNDC5 gene, rs16835198 and rs726344, are associated with in vivo insulin sensitivity in adults. ⋯ For the rs16835198 SNP, the variant T-allele tended to show higher luciferase activity compared with the G-allele (P = 0.07). However, we found no differences between genotype/allele frequencies of the two SNPs in centenarians versus controls in any cohort, and no significant association (using logistic regression adjusted by sex) between the two SNPs and EL. Further research is needed with different cohorts as well as with additional variants in the FNDC5 gene or in other genes involved in irisin signaling.