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D Damon

Publications and source records attributed to D Damon.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Marital status and risk of Alzheimer's disease: a French population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between marital status and risk of AD or dementia. METHODS: This study was carried out from the Personnes Agées QUID (PAQUID) cohort, an epidemiologic study on normal and pathologic aging after age 65 years. The PAQUID cohort began in 1988. Individuals were followed up at 1, 3, and 5 years, with an active detection of dementia. Marital status was divided into four categories: widowed, never married, divorced or separated, and the reference category, married or cohabitant. The longitudinal relationship between marital status and risk of incident AD or dementia was analyzed by a Cox model with delayed entry. RESULTS: Among the 3,675 individuals initially not demented, 2,106 were married or cohabitants, 1,287 were widowers, 179 were never married, and 103 were divorced or separated. Among the 2,881 individuals reevaluated at least once for the risk of dementia during the 5-year follow-up, 190 incident cases of dementia were identified, including 140 with AD. The relative risks (RRs) of dementia (RR = 1.91, p = 0.018) and of AD (RR = 2.68, p<0.001) were increased for the never-married individuals compared with those who were married or cohabitants. This excess of risk was specifically associated with AD. Adjustment for other risk factors of dementia (education, wine consumption), or for factors reflecting social environment, leisure activities, and depression, did not modify the risk of AD for never-married individuals (RR = 2.31, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed an association between marital status and AD, with an excess risk observed among never-married individuals. This association may provide clues about the pathogenesis of AD.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Vasoactive effects of basic and acidic fibroblast growth factors in hamster cheek pouch arterioles.

Fibroblasts growth factors (FGFs) exhibit well-known angiogenic actions, but there is some controversy about whether they have vasoactive effects on blood vessels which might contribute to angiogenesis per se. To clarify this, changes in arteriolar diameter were recorded during observation by videomicroscopy of 3rd- and 4th (terminal)-order arterioles (resting diameters 22.5 +/- 0.5 microns and 14.4 +/- 0.3 microns, respectively) in the hamster cheek pouch in response to FGF application. Recombinant human bFGF (basic) and aFGF (acidic) were applied from micropipettes positioned 5-10 microns from the adventitial surface of vessels. Maximum vasodilator effects of adenosine (10(-4) M) applied in a similar way were also observed. Adenosine increased the diameters of 4th-order arterioles by 37.2 +/- 3.8% and those of 3rd-order arterioles by 38.7 +/- 2.7. bFGF produced vasodilatation (threshold dose 0.1 ng ml-1) in both classes of arterioles, while aFGF produced dose-dependent constriction (threshold dose 0.01 ng ml-1). A maximal dilator effect in 4th-order arterioles was obtained with 100 ng ml-1 bFGF, when diameters reached 82.6 +/- 2.4% of those with adenosine. Maximal constrictor effect (-48.2 +/- 5.6% of resting diameter) occurred with a dose of 100 ng ml-1 aFGF. Vehicle alone (MOPS or bicarbonate buffer used as solvents for FGFs) had no effect. As vasoconstrictors are known to stimulate growth of smooth muscle cells while dilators stimulate growth of endothelial cells, it is possible that the opposing vasoactivities demonstrated for aFGF and bFGF are linked with their selective mitogenicity for smooth muscle and endothelial cells, respectively, and contribute to their angiogenic actions.

Adenosine↗