Relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms in older adults: role of activities of daily living and sleep duration.

Introduction: Previous studies have demonstrated that frailty is associated with depressive symptoms among older people and significantly increase the risk of difficulty in activities of daily living (ADL). However, uncertainties remain regarding the mechanisms behind such relationship. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating effect of ADL in the relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms among older adults in China, and to explore to what extend sleep duration moderated the association between ADL and depressive symptoms. Methods: In this study, we carried out cross-sectional descriptive analysis and 1,429 participants were included in the analysis. A survey was conducted using questionnaires and instruments measuring frailty, depressive symptoms, ADL and sleep duration. Bootstrap analyses served to explore the impact of ADL in mediating frailty and depressed symptoms, as well as the effect of sleep duration in moderating ADL and depressive symptoms. Results: Compared to the robust group, the mediating effects of ADL between frailty and depressive symptoms were significant in the prefrail group and the frail group. The interaction term between sleep duration and ADL was significantly presented in the regression on depressive symptoms. Specifically, the Johnson-Neyman technique determined a range from 8.31 to 10.19 h for sleep duration, within which the detrimental effect of frailty on depressive symptoms was offset. Conclusion: Sleep duration moderated the indirect effect of ADL on the association between frailty and depressive symptoms. This provides support for unraveling the underlying mechanism of the association between frailty and depressive symptoms. Encouraging older adults to enhance ADL and obtain appropriate sleep duration might improve depressive symptoms for older adults with frailty and prefrailty.

STING inhibitors sensitize platinum chemotherapy in ovarian cancer by inhibiting the CGAS-STING pathway in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs).

Chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer hampers cure rates, with cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) playing a pivotal role. Despite their known impact on cancer progression and chemotherapy resistance, the specific mechanism by which CAFs regulate the tumor inflammatory environment remains unclear. This study reveals that cisplatin facilitates DNA transfer from ovarian cancer cells to CAFs, activating the CGAS-STING-IFNB1 pathway in CAFs and promoting IFNB1 release. Consequently, this reinforces cancer cell resistance to platinum drugs. High STING expression in the tumor stroma was associated with a poor prognosis, while inhibiting STING expression enhanced ovarian cancer sensitivity. Understanding the relevance of the CGAS-STING pathway in CAFs for platinum resistance suggests targeting STING as a promising combination therapy for ovarian cancer, providing potential avenues for improved treatment outcomes.

Associations between Physical Activity Trajectories and Incident Hypertension.

Purpose: We aimed to characterize physical activity (PA) trajectories across adulthood and to estimate their association with incident hypertension risk. Methods: Data were obtained from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) conducted during 2004-2011. Group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) was used to identify distinct groups of PA trajectories. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the association. Results: A total of 11,162 participants whose PA was repeatedly estimated by self-report from questionnaires two to four times in the CHNS were included in our study. During the 5.4 years of follow-up, 3824 incident hypertension cases were identified. Five distinct PA trajectories were identified in men: light and slight decline, light and gradual decline then sharp rise, light to medium-heavy then decline, medium-heavy and gradual decline, and heavy and sharp decline. Two distinct PA trajectories were identified in women: light and stable, and medium and gradual decline. The PA trajectory of medium-heavy and gradual decline was significantly associated with decreased risk of hypertension in men, with the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) being 0.80 (0.63, 0.99), 0.74 (0.59, 0.93), 0.76 (0.60, 0.96), and 0.70 (0.55, 0.88) in models 1-4, respectively. Conclusions: Our study identified five distinct long-term PA trajectories in men and two distinct trajectories in women. The PA trajectory of medium-heavy PA in early adulthood followed by gradual decline was found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of hypertension in later life in men.