Effects of Cosmetic Therapy on Cognitive Function in Elderly Women Evaluated by Time-Resolved Spectroscopy Study.

With the rapid increase in dementia in developed countries, it is important to establish methods for maintaining or improving cognitive function in elderly people. To resolve such problems, we have been developing a cosmetic therapy (CT) program for elderly women. However, the mechanism and limitations of CT are not yet clear. In order to clarify these issues, we employed time-resolved spectroscopy (TRS) to evaluate the effect of CT on prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity in elderly females with various levels of cognitive impairment. Based on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, the subjects were classified into mild (mean MMSE score: 24.1±3.8) and moderate (mean MMSE score: 10.3±5.8) cognitive impairment (CI) groups (p<0.0001). The mild CI group exhibited significantly larger baseline concentrations of oxy-Hb and t-Hb than the moderate CI group. CT significantly increased the baseline concentrations of oxy-Hb (p<0.002) and t-Hb (p<0.0013) in the left PFC in the mild CI group. In contrast, CT did not change the concentrations of oxy-Hb and t-Hb in the moderate CI group (p>0.05). These results suggest that CT affects cognitive function by altering PFC activity in elderly women with mild CI, but not moderate CI.

In vitro effects of beta-carotene for the motility, ATP, and intracellular free Ca(2+) concentrations of fowl spermatozoa.

The motility of intact fowl spermatozoa was vigorous at 25 degrees C, but decreased gradually following the addition of 0-100 microM beta-carotene in a dose-dependent manner. Even in the presence of stimulators of fowl sperm motility, such as Ca(2+) or calyculin A, the motility of intact spermatozoa at both 25 and 40 degrees C remained inhibited following the addition of beta-carotene. Under all of these circumstances, sperm ATP concentrations were not reduced by the addition of beta-carotene. Moreover, the motility of demembranated spermatozoa was not inhibited by the addition of the same concentrations of beta-carotene. No changes in intracellular free Ca(2+) concentrations, measured by means of a fluorescent Ca(2+) indicator, fura-2, were observed in intact beta-carotene -treated spermatozoa. These results suggest that beta-carotene is involved in the inhibition of the flagellar movement of fowl spermatozoa without change in energy production, and that the target of beta-carotene might be present in the cytoplasmic matrix and/or the plasma membrane, but not retained in the axoneme and/or accessory cytoskeletal components.