Mostly Microbes and Infection

by Jan Martel, David M. Ojcius and John D. Young   Human health requires homeostasis and coherence to respond to stress and synchronize physiological functions. This state of balance is gradually lost during aging when senescent cells accumulate and persistently secrete cytokines that promote systemic inflammation and affect various organs. The immune system is well trained to track and kill senescent cells, but immune cells become old and eventually fail to keep up. In this special issue on senescence, seven original contributions present recent advances related to the roles and characteristics of senescent cells and how senescence, aging and longevity are influenced by cancer, gut dysbiosis, immune cells, lifestyle and diet .

Ce numéro spécial apporte des éléments de réflexion sur l’accès à la santé dans les pays du Sud. Un premier chapitre est consacré à l’épidémie Ebola qui frappe l’Afrique de l’Ouest depuis décembre 2013. Michel Brugière nous explique pourquoi cette nouvelle poussée épidémique a pris beaucoup plus d'ampleur que les précédentes, alors que la maladie au virus Ebola est connue depuis 1976 et que nous savons comment la contenir. Dans leur article, Sophia Hafner et David Ojcius analysent les conséquences d’Ebola sur les économies d’Afrique Occidentale. Tous trois nous invitent à tirer des leçons de ces événements tragiques, notamment en termes de prévention et de solidarité. Des actions de solidarité sont mises en œuvre depuis des années sur le terrain, et permettent d’améliorer l’accès à la santé des populations dans les pays pauvres. Les huit témoignages regroupés dans ce numéro spécial en attestent. Ces initiatives peuvent être des sources d’apprentissage précieuses.

Life extension  is the concept of extending the human  lifespan , either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the  maximum lifespan  beyond its generally-settled  limit of 125 years . [1]  Several researchers in the area, along with "life extensionists", "immortalists", or "longevists" (those who wish to achieve longer lives themselves), postulate that future breakthroughs in tissue  rejuvenation ,  stem cells ,  regenerative medicine ,  molecular  repair,  gene therapy , pharmaceuticals, and  organ  replacement (such as with artificial organs or  xenotransplantations ) will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition (agerasia [2] ). The ethical ramifications, if life extension becomes a possibility, are debated by  bioethicists . The sale of purported anti-aging products such as supplements and hormon...

by  Jarrod Cortez   ,  Ignacio Romero   ,  Jason Ngo   ,  Md Sayed Tanveer Azam   ,  Chuang Niu   ,  Cássio Luiz Coutinho Almeida-da-Silva   ,  Leticia Ferreira Cabido   ,  David M Ojcius   ,  Wei-Chun Chin   ,  Ge Wang   ,  Changqing Li   Background:  Periodontal disease affects over 50% of the global population and is characterized by gingivitis as the initial sign. One dental health issue that may contribute to the development of periodontal disease is foreign body gingivitis (FBG), which can result from exposure to some kinds of foreign metal particles from dental products or food. Objective:  We design a novel, portable, affordable, multispectral X-ray and fluorescence optical microscopic imaging system dedicated to detecting and differentiating metal oxide particles in dental pathological tissues. A novel denoising algorithm is applied. We verify the feasibility ...

by Jan Martel, David M. Ojcius, John D. Young.     Senescence is a condition of cell cycle arrest that increases inflammation and contributes to the development of chronic diseases in the aging human body. While several compounds described as senolytics and senomorphics produce health benefits by reducing the burden of senescence, less attention has been devoted to lifestyle interventions that produce similar effects. We describe here the effects of exercise, nutrition, caloric restriction, intermittent fasting, phytochemicals from natural products, prebiotics and probiotics, and adequate sleep on senescence in model organisms and humans. These interventions can be integrated within a healthy lifestyle to reduce senescence and inflammation and delay the consequences of aging.

Assistant Provost for Research:   David Ojcius.  The  Office of Research and Sponsored Programs strives to provide the highest quality of support to faculty, staff, and students by facilitating proposal processing; managing submission and review; and administration of awards/contracts and Research Compliance.

  Calorie Restriction is known to delay progression of age-related diseases in animal models. A new study suggests the same biological mechanisms may apply to humans.