BackgroundIdentifying and treating people in a pre-frail state may be an effective way to prevent or delay frailty and preserve their functional capacity. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of, and compliance with, a 12 week individualized nutritional supplementation (INS) and Nordic walking (NW) program in pre-frail older Indians. The primary measure is physical performance, as indicated by Fried’s Frailty scale. Other measures include: cognition, as indicated by the Hindi Mental Status Examination; mood, by the Geriatric Depression Scale; and nutritional status, by the Mini Nutritional Assessment.MethodsThis is an open-labeled experimental pre-test and post-test study, which took place from October 2012 to December 2014. The study was approved by Institute Ethics committee (IEC/NP-350/2012/RP-26/2012) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Participants were sixty-six pre-frail elderly, who were randomly allocated into three subgroups, namely: A (NW only), B (INS only), and C (NW and INS). One-way ANOVA was used to statistically assess differences in baseline characteristics for quantitative variables, with the Chi-Square/Fischer exact test utilized for qualitative variables. Paired t-tests were used to assess pre and post intervention difference within the group for quantitative variables, with McNemar’s Chi-Square test used for qualitative variables. Kruskal Wallis test was used to assess significant intervention effects among the groups. A p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.ResultsThere was significant effect of intervention in gait speed in group A (p = 0.001) and C (p = 0.002), but not in group B (p = 0.926). While there was no significant change in grip strength in Group A (p = 0.488) and B (p = 0.852), a statistically significant increase was observed in group C (p = 0.013). Mood significantly improved in group B (p = 0.025) and C (p = 0.021). No significant difference was noted in cognitive status across groups. Following the interventions, a total of 18.18% of pre-frail participants were classified as non-frail.ConclusionsCombining NW and INS provides a simple, pragmatic intervention with efficacy in the management of functionally vulnerable older adults, and allows their maintained independence. Future studies should replicate this readily applicable intervention in a larger cohort with a longer follow-up period.Trial registrationClinical Trial Registry-India CTRI/2016/05/006937 [Registered on: 16/05/2016]; Trial was Registered Retrospectively.

Aging influences the susceptibility and prognosis to various infectious diseases including tuberculosis (TB). Despite the impairment of T‐cell function and immunity in older individuals, the mechanism for the higher incidence of TB in the elderly remains largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the age‐associated immune alterations, particularly in effector and Treg responses in pulmonary TB patients. We also evaluated the impact of redox status and its modulation with N‐acetyl‐cysteine (NAC) in elderly TB. Higher frequency of Treg cells and reduced IFN‐γ positive T cells were observed among older TB patients. The elevated number of Treg cells correlated tightly with bacillary load (i.e. disease severity); which declined significantly in response to successful anti‐tubercular treatment. We could rescue Myobacterium tuberculosis‐specific effector T cell (Th1) responses through various in vitro approaches, for example, Treg cell depletion and co‐culture experiments, blocking experiments using antibodies against IL‐10, TGF‐β, and programmed death‐1 (PD‐1) as well as NAC supplementation. We report old age‐associated enrichment of Treg cells and suppression of M. tuberculosis‐specific effector T (Th1) cell immune responses. Monitoring these immune imbalances in older patients may assist in immune potentiation through selectively targeting Treg cells and/or optimizing redox status by NAC supplementation.

Invasive aspergillosis causing orbital apex syndrome (OAS) in an immune-competent individual is a very rare phenomenon, scarcely reported in medical literature. A 68-year-old male presented with progressive loss of vision in the right eye, starting after a cataract surgery. Neurological examination suggested OAS. Imaging was suggestive of mass lesion causing destruction of ethmoid bone. Biopsy of the lesion could not be done initially in view of its proximity to the major neuro-vascular bundle in the orbital apex and cavernous sinus and the major risk involved in the procedure relative to its yield. There was no response to empirical therapy with antibacterials, steroids or Amphotericin-B. Gradually the mass increased in size and was amenable to biopsy. Endoscopy guided biopsy revealed invasive aspergillosis. Switching over to voriconazole lead to successful management. This case highlights the importance of early diagnosis and selection of an appropriate antifungal therapy in the management of invasive aspergillosis.

No abstract