(news.bbc.co.uk)You might recall research from last year suggesting age-related decline in the choroid plexus contributes to the buildup of amyloid characteristic to Alzheimer's disease. the choroid plexus acts as a sort of 'fishnet' that captures the protein, called beta-amyloid, and prevents it from building up in the cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds and bathes the brain and spinal cord. Moreover, tissue in the organ is able to soak up large amounts of the protein and may contain enzymes capable of digesting beta-amyloid. I noticed a paper today that focuses on a quite different aspect of decline in the choroid plexus, but one that still leaves the brain the worse for it. Aging reduces the neuroprotective capacity, VEGF secretion, and metabolic activity of rat choroid plexus epithelial cells: Delivery of neurotrophic molecules to the brain has potential for preventing neuronal loss in neurodegenerative disorders. Choroid plexus (CP) epithelial cells secrete numerous neurotrophic factors, and encapsulated CP transplants are neuroprotective in models of stroke and Huntington's disease (HD). ... In vitro, young CP epithelial cells secreted more VEGF and were metabolically more active than aged CP epithelial cells. ... Implants of young CP were potently neuroprotective as rats receiving CP transplants were not...

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(news.bbc.co.uk)Oxidative stress is the unassuming name for the state in which reactive oxygen species - the free radicals of the free radical theory of aging - are present in sufficient numbers to overwhelm the body's antioxidant defenses and thus cause potentially lasting damage and degredation by reacting with important molecules in cellular machinery. If you care to head back in the archives a way, I explain some of the mechanisms in more detail in a post on the mitochondrial free radical theory of aging: where it is these reactive oxygen species come from, and how it is that they can do so much harm, leading to conditions such as atherosclerosis. A paper on the rise of oxidative stress with aging caught my eye today: Aging-Related Oxidative Stress in Healthy Humans: Oxidative stress has been reported to increase with aging; however, the scientific evidence is controversial. We therefore aimed to analyze the relationship between aging and some markers of oxidative stress. ... there was no age-related change in oxidative stress markers in subjects of < 60 years. These findings suggest that age of > 60 years may be associated with increased oxidative stress. The full PDF version of that paper is...

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(news.bbc.co.uk)We humans possess some ugly instincts, hardwired into us over evolutionary time. The ape inside is not a pleasant fellow; he'd rather tear down pillars of success into a rubble of equal poverty for all than than use those pillars to raise up the areas between to a higher level of living. He's ever ready to believe the worst, to choose mysticism over science, hold the irrational beliefs of peers over demonstrated reality, and live in lazy ignorance rather than work to be educated. All instincts can be mastered, and we are the masters of the ape inside - if we choose to be. Not a lot of mastering going on in the majority of the comments at AlterNet to a reprint on longevity science, however. I am always amazed at those people who stand convinced that new medical technologies and capabilities will be restricted to the "elites" - this flies so much in the face of even a cursory examination of the present day and recent history that it rises to the level of myth. It is a defining belief held as a part of tribal membership, divorced from any need to conform to reality. From this errant belief,...

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(news.bbc.co.uk)Some good points made in the discussion to a post on the low cost-effectiveness of government-funded medical research: Writing in The Scientist Frederick Sachs argues that the large increase in funding for the US National Institutes of Health did not produce a commensurate increase in scientific productivity as measured by papers published. ... Geez. An inefficient, ineffective, socialist, bureaucratic research system (as measured by its failure to cure most anything over 40 years) hits diminishing returns... Am I the only one not surprised? Sublimate it as rapidly as possible into a free-market, sink or swim, enterprise and maybe we will see something good come of it. That point is made at greater length and in greater detail in the comments by those who work inside the system. It's an important point for people with an eye on the next few decades of progress - if you want to see significant results in the advancement of human longevity, merely throwing resources at the problem is inadequate in and of itself. Without the right incentives, accountability, freedom and community, there will be immense waste, and the immense cost of missed opportunity. All spending by centralized government bodies is of that nature; no...

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