APOE E4 status predicts age-related cognitive decline in the ninth decade: longitudinal follow-up of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921.

Carriers of the APOE E4 allele have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. However, it is less clear whether APOE E4 status may also be involved in non-pathological cognitive ageing. The present study investigated the associations between APOE genotypes and cognitive change over 8 years in older community-dwelling individuals. APOE genotype was determined in 501 participants of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921, whose intelligence had been measured in childhood in the Scottish Mental Survey 1932. A polymorphic variant of TOMM40 (rs10524523) was included to differentiate between the effects of the APOE E3 and E4 allelic variants. Cognitive performance on the domains of verbal memory, abstract reasoning and verbal fluency was assessed at mean age 79 years (n=501), and again at mean ages of 83 (n=284) and 87 (n=187). Using linear mixed models adjusted for demographic variables, vascular risk factors and IQ at age 11 years, possession of the APOE E4 allele was associated with a higher relative rate of cognitive decline over the subsequent 8 years for verbal memory and abstract reasoning. Individuals with the long allelic variant of TOMM40, which is linked to APOE E4, showed similar results. Verbal fluency was not affected by APOE E4 status. APOE E2 status was not associated with change in cognitive performance over 8 years. In non-demented older individuals, possession of the APOE E4 allele predicted a higher rate of cognitive decline on tests of verbal memory and abstract reasoning between 79 and 87 years. Thus, possession of the APOE E4 allele may not only predispose to Alzheimer's disease, but also appears to be a risk factor for non-pathological decline in verbal memory and abstract reasoning in the ninth decade of life.

Predation in the paleozoic: gastropod-like drillholes in devonian brachiopods.

Middle Devonian articulate brachiopods (Ludlowville and Moscow Formations, Hamilton Group, New York) have external tapered holes with a central boss that are indistinguishable from drillholes of naticid gastropods that are known from the Triassic and later. Drillholes are specific to prey (ribbed shells were avoided) and specific to sites on prey. Healed drillholes suggest penetration of live prey. As many as 44 percent of the preferred prey are drilled, indicating a level of predation that has been reported only from post-Paleozoic strata.

Exploratory analysis of dietary intake and brain iron accumulation detected using magnetic resonance imaging in older individuals: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.

CONTEXT: Brain Iron Deposits (IDs) are associated with neurodegenerative diseases and impaired cognitive function in later life, but their cause is unknown. Animal studies have found evidence of relationships between dietary iron, calorie and cholesterol intake and brain iron accumulation. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between iron, calorie, and cholesterol intake, blood indicators of iron status, and brain IDs in humans. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cohort of 1063 community-dwelling older individuals born in 1936 (mean age 72.7years, SD=0.7) with dietary information, results from blood sample analyses and brain imaging data contemporaneously in old age. MEASUREMENTS: Magnetic Resonance Imaging was used to assess regional volumes of brain IDs in basal ganglia, brainstem, white matter, thalamus, and cortex/border with the corticomedullary junction, using a fully automatic assessment procedure followed by individual checking/correction where necessary. Haemoglobin, red cell count, haematocrit, mean cell volume, ferritin and transferrin were obtained from blood samples and typical daily intake of iron, calories, and cholesterol were calculated from a validated food-frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall, 72.8% of the sample that had valid MRI (n=676) had brain IDs. The median total volume of IDs was 40mm3, inter-quartile range (IQR)=196. Basal ganglia IDs (median=35, IQR=159.5 mm3), were found in 70.6% of the sample. IDs in the brainstem were found in 12.9% of the sample, in the cortex in 1.9%, in the white matter in 6.1% and in the thalamus in 1.0%. The median daily intake of calories was 1808.5kcal (IQR=738.5), of cholesterol was 258.5mg (IQR=126.2) and of total iron was 11.7mg (IQR=5). Iron, calorie or cholesterol intake were not directly associated with brain IDs. However, caloric intake was associated with ferritin, an iron storage protein (p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that overall caloric, iron and cholesterol intake are not associated with IDs in brains of healthy older individuals but caloric intake could be associated with iron storage. Further work is required to corroborate our findings on other samples and investigate the underlying mechanisms of brain iron accumulation.

Analysis of sequences involved in IE2 transactivation of a baculovirus immediate-early gene promoter and identification of a new regulatory motif.

Opep-2 is a unique baculovirus early gene that has only been identified in the Orgyia pseudotsugata multiple capsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (OpMNPV). Previous analyses have shown this gene is expressed at very early times post-infection (p.i.) but is shut down by 36-48 h p.i. The promoter of opep-2 therefore, represents a class of early genes that is temporally regulated. In this study, a detailed analysis of the opep-2 promoter is performed to analyze the role individual motifs play in early gene expression. A new 13 base pair regulatory element was identified and shown to be essential in controlling high-level expression of this gene. In addition, mutational analysis revealed that GATA and CACGTG motifs, which have been shown to bind cellular factors in Sf9 and Ld652Y cells, played minor roles in influencing opep-2 expression in the absence of other viral factors. The OpMNPV transactivator IE2 causes a significant activation of the opep-2 promoter. Cotransfection of an extensive number of promoter deletions and mutations did not show any sequence specificity for IE2 transactivation. This is the first detailed analysis of the sequence requirements for IE2 transactivation, and these results suggest that IE2 does not bind directly to specific elements in the opep-2 promoter.

Antioxidant and B vitamin intake in relation to cognitive function in later life in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies provide some evidence for an association between intake of antioxidants and B vitamins, and cognitive function in later life, but intervention studies have not provided clear evidence of beneficial effects. The possibility that those with higher cognitive ability during earlier adult life consume more nutrient-rich diets in later life could provide an alternative explanation for the associations seen in observational studies. METHODS: Survey of 1091 men and women born in 1936 living in Edinburgh, Scotland, in whom previous cognitive ability was available from intelligence quotient (IQ) measurements at age 11 years. At age 70 years, participants carried out a range of cognitive tests and completed a semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). RESULTS: A total of 882 participants returned completed FFQs from which intake of ß-carotene, vitamin C, B12, folate and riboflavin was estimated. IQ at age 11 years was positively associated with dietary intake of vitamin C (P=0.048) and inversely associated with dietary intake of riboflavin (P<0.001) at age 70 years, and was higher in those taking folate supplements at age 70 years (P<0.005). Weak associations between intake of vitamins B12, C, riboflavin and folate and cognitive performance at age 70 years were attenuated by adjustment for confounding variables, including IQ at age 11 years. In the fully adjusted models, the proportion of total variance in cognitive function at age 70 years accounted for by intake of these nutrients was less than 1%. CONCLUSION: These results provide no evidence for a clinically significant beneficial association between intake of these antioxidants and B vitamins, and cognitive function at age 70 years.

MTHFR polymorphisms and cognitive ageing in the ninth decade: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921.

Low blood levels of B vitamins have been implicated in age-associated cognitive impairment. The present study investigated the association between genetic variation in folate metabolism and age-related cognitive decline in the ninth decade of life. Both the 677C>T (rs1801133) polymorphism and the scarcely studied 1298A>C (rs1801131) polymorphism of the MTHFR gene were assessed in relation to cognitive change over 8 years in older community-dwelling individuals. MTHFR genotype was determined in 476 participants of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1921, whose intelligence was measured in childhood in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932. Cognitive performance on the domains of verbal memory, reasoning and verbal fluency was assessed at mean age of 79 (n = 476) and again at mean ages of 83 (n = 275) and 87 (n = 180). Using linear mixed models, the MTHFR 677C>T and 1298A>C variants were not associated with the rate of cognitive change between 79 and 87 years, neither in the total sample, nor in a subsample of individuals with erythrocyte folate levels below the median. APOE E4 allele carrier status did not interact with MTHFR genotype in affecting change in cognitive performance over 8 years. No significant combined effect of the two polymorphisms was found. In conclusion, MTHFR 677C>T and 1298A>C polymorphisms were not associated with individual change in cognitive functioning in the ninth decade of life. Although polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene may cause disturbances in folate metabolism, they do not appear to be accompanied by changes in cognitive functioning in old age.

The challenge of paleoecological stasis: reassessing sources of evolutionary stability.

The paleontological record of the lower and middle Paleozoic Appalachian foreland basin demonstrates an unprecedented level of ecological and morphological stability on geological time scales. Some 70-80% of fossil morphospecies within assemblages persist in similar relative abundances in coordinated packages lasting as long as 7 million years despite evidence for environmental change and biotic disturbances. These intervals of stability are separated by much shorter periods of ecological and evolutionary change. This pattern appears widespread in the fossil record. Existing concepts of the evolutionary process are unable to explain this uniquely paleontological observation of faunawide coordinated stasis. A principle of evolutionary stability that arises from the ecosystem is explored here. We propose that hierarchical ecosystem theory, when extended to geological time scales, can explain long-term paleoecological stability as the result of ecosystem organization in response to high-frequency disturbance. The accompanying stability of fossil morphologies results from "ecological locking," in which selection is seen as a high-rate response of populations that is hierarchically constrained by lower-rate ecological processes. When disturbance exceeds the capacity of the system, ecological crashes remove these higher-level constraints, and evolution is free to proceed at high rates of directional selection during the organization of a new stable ecological hierarchy.