Of Energy and Entropy: The Ineluctable Impact of Aging in Old Age Dementia
Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(12), 2672; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18122672
Received: 6 October 2017 / Revised: 4 December 2017 / Accepted: 7 December 2017 / Published: 9 December 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inflammaging and Oxidative Stress in Aging and Age-Related Disorders)
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) represents the most common form of dementia among older age subjects, and despite decades of studies, the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. The definition of AD has changed over the past 100 years, and while early-onset AD is commonly related to genetic mutations, late-onset AD is more likely due to a gradual accumulation of age-related modifications. “Normal brain aging” and AD may represent different pathways of successful or failed capability to adapt brain structures and cerebral functions. Cellular senescence and age-related changes (ARCs) affecting the brain may be considered as biologic manifestations of increasing entropy, a measure of disorder. Late-onset AD may be regarded as the final effect of a reduced energy production, due to exhausted mitochondria, and an increased entropy in the brain. This unique trajectory enables a bioenergetics-centered strategy targeting disease-stage specific profile of brain metabolism for disease prevention and treatment.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
dementia; elderly; entropy; energy; mitochondria; oxidative stress
▼
Show Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Boccardi, V.; Comanducci, C.; Baroni, M.; Mecocci, P. Of Energy and Entropy: The Ineluctable Impact of Aging in Old Age Dementia. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18, 2672. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18122672
AMA Style
Boccardi V, Comanducci C, Baroni M, Mecocci P. Of Energy and Entropy: The Ineluctable Impact of Aging in Old Age Dementia. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017; 18(12):2672. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18122672
Chicago/Turabian StyleBoccardi, Virginia; Comanducci, Chiara; Baroni, Marta; Mecocci, Patrizia. 2017. "Of Energy and Entropy: The Ineluctable Impact of Aging in Old Age Dementia" Int. J. Mol. Sci. 18, no. 12: 2672. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18122672
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Search more from Scilit