Kristina Endres

The ageing of an organism is associated with certain features of functional decline that can be assessed at the cellular level (e.g., reduced telomere length, loss of proteostasis, etc.), but also at the organismic level. Frailty is an independent syndrome that involves increased multidimensional age-related deficits, heightens vulnerability to stressors, and involves physical deficits in mainly the locomotor/muscular capacity, but also in physical appearance and cognition. For sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, age per se is one of the most relevant risk factors, but frailty has also been associated with this disease. Therefore, we aimed to answer the two following questions within a cross-sectional study: (1) do Alzheimer’s model mice show increased frailty, and (2) what changes of the microbiota occur concerning chronological age or frailty? Indeed, aged 5xFAD mice showed increased frailty compared to wild type littermates. In addition, 5xFAD mice had significantly lower quantities of Bacteroides spp. when only considering frailty, and lower levels of Bacteroidetes in terms of both frailty and chronological age compared to their wild type littermates. Thus, the quality of ageing—as assessed by frailty measures—should be taken into account to unravel potential changes in the gut microbial community in Alzheimer’s disease.

Background: We examine the potential of behavioral activation by wearable devices in inpatients with late-life depression (LLD). Methods: In randomized order, 17 inpatients with LLD wore a GPS watch that either allowed monitoring their activity level or had a disabled activity display. The patients answered questionnaires repeatedly in addition to completing an ambulatory assessment of biopsychological stress. Results: Acceptance and satisfaction were high. We found short-term differential effects of the randomization order, with patients first in the control group being more active but also more stressed. A high number of missing values limits the informative value of ambulatory assessment. Conclusions: The intervention was feasible and well accepted. However, the effect of continuous feedback on activity levels in a crossover design needs to be critically reassessed.