OBM Geriatrics is an Open Access journal published quarterly online by LIDSEN Publishing Inc. The journal takes the premise that innovative approaches – including gene therapy, cell therapy, and epigenetic modulation – will result in clinical interventions that alter the fundamental pathology and the clinical course of age-related human diseases. We will give strong preference to papers that emphasize an alteration (or a potential alteration) in the fundamental disease course of Alzheimer’s disease, vascular aging diseases, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, skin aging, immune senescence, and other age-related diseases.

Geriatric medicine is now entering a unique point in history, where the focus will no longer be on palliative, ameliorative, or social aspects of care for age-related disease, but will be capable of stopping, preventing, and reversing major disease constellations that have heretofore been entirely resistant to interventions based on “small molecular” pharmacological approaches. With the changing emphasis from genetic to epigenetic understandings of pathology (including telomere biology), with the use of gene delivery systems (including viral delivery systems), and with the use of cell-based therapies (including stem cell therapies), a fatalistic view of age-related disease is no longer a reasonable clinical default nor an appropriate clinical research paradigm.

Precedence will be given to papers describing fundamental interventions, including interventions that affect cell senescence, patterns of gene expression, telomere biology, stem cell biology, and other innovative, 21st century interventions, especially if the focus is on clinical applications, ongoing clinical trials, or animal trials preparatory to phase 1 human clinical trials.

Papers must be clear and concise, but detailed data is strongly encouraged. The journal publishes a variety of article types (Original Research, Review, Communication, Opinion, Comment, Conference Report, Technical Note, Book Review, etc.). There is no restriction on the length of the papers and we encourage scientists to publish their results in as much detail as possible.

Publication Speed (median values for papers published in 2023): Submission to First Decision: 5.7 weeks; Submission to Acceptance: 17.9 weeks; Acceptance to Publication: 7 days (1-2 days of FREE language polishing included)

Current Issue: 2024  Archive: 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

Special Issue

Perspectives on Telomeres and Aging

Submission Deadline: January 31, 2019 (Open) Submit Now

Guest Editor

Michael Fossel, MD, PhD

1. President of Telocyte (http://www.telocyte.com), Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA
2. Retired Clinical Professor of Medicine, Michigan State University, Ada, MI 49301, USA

Website | E-Mail

Research Interests: human aging; telomeres; telomerase therapy; age-related diseases; Alzheimer's disease

About This Topic

Geriatrics aims to treat the diseases of older human beings, an aim that we have consistently failed to achieve with any great efficacy. Yet both theory and growing experimental data suggest that this is about to change significantly, largely due to an increased understanding of the role played by changes in gene expression in senescent cells that result in aging disease. This is not merely a conceptual revolution, but has practical, clinical implications: we have the nascent ability to treat disease by extending telomeres and thereby resetting gene expression. The experimental results in animal studies have been remarkable and FDA human trials are planned.
Beyond the few interventional trials with telomerase activators and the planned human trials with telomerase gene therapy, there is also a growing literature on the relationship between telomere lengths and aging and, more importantly, age-related disease.
Geriatrics will publish a special issue on the relationship between telomeres and aging. We encourage submission of research on the role of telomeres (and telomerase) in geriatric medicine, to specifically include articles giving a perspective on the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of telomeres and aging.

Planned Papers

Title: Telomeres in Aging, Development, and Longevity
Author: Alvaro Macieira-Coelho

Title: Telomere, stress, stress-related mental disorders and aging
Author: Lei Zhang

Title: Telomeres and Heart failure in Aging patients
Author: Bodh I. Jugdutt
Affiliation: 2C2 W.C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, University of Alberta and Hospitals, 8440-112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Title: Biological Age versus Chronological Age in the Prevention of Age Associated Diseases
Authors: Gian Andrea Rollandi 1, *, Aldo Chiesa 1, Nicoletta Sacchi 1, Matteo Puntoni 1, Adriana Amaro 2, Ulrich Pfeffer 2, *
Affiliations:
1. Ente Ospedaliera Galliera, Genova, Italy;
2. IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy;

Title: Telomeres in Aging, Development, and Longevity
Author: Alvaro Macieira-Coelho
Abstract:
It has been postulated that telomere shortening is a main cause of cell proliferative senescence and of organism aging. This statement is based on the following propositions: The number of divisions of cells in vitro is inversely related with telomere length and with the age of the donor, hence telomere length is inversely related with age of the organism. The propositions, however, have not been ascertained. Indirect and circumstantial evidences suggest that some developmental events are regulated at the level of telomeres. Telomeres also seem to influence positively or negatively species longevity depending upon their role on chromosomal recombination, which can confer genetic stability or instability.

Title: Cross-talk between Genetic Modulators of Human Longevity & Telomeres
Authors: Trevor Torigoe, Bradley Willcox, Craig Willcox, Michio Shimabukuro, Richard Allsopp

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted through the LIDSEN Submission System. Detailed information on manuscript preparation and submission is available in the Instructions for Authors. All submitted articles will be thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process and will be processed following the Editorial Process and Quality Control policy. Upon acceptance, the article will be immediately published in a regular issue of the journal and will be listed together on the special issue website, with a label that the article belongs to the Special Issue. LIDSEN distributes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License in an open-access model. The authors own the copyright to the article, and the article can be free to access, distribute, and reuse provided that the original work is correctly cited.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). Research articles and review articles are highly invited. Authors are encouraged to send the tentative title and abstract of the planned paper to the Editorial Office (geriatrics@lidsen.com) for record. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office.

Welcome your submission!

Publication

Open Access Concept Paper

Biological Age versus Chronological Age in the Prevention of Age Associated Diseases

Received: 31 January 2019;  Published: 05 May 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1902051

Abstract

Aging is associated with an increasing incidence of major diseases among which cancer, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic and autoimmune diseases. Primary prevention and early diagnosis of these diseases have a dramatic impact on incidence, outcome and quality of life and are commonly applied as age-dependent indications based on [...]
Open Access Comment

hTERT Promoter Regulation by Differentiation Mechanisms vs Telomerase Activity in Somatic, Embryonic, and Cancerous Cells

Received: 02 February 2019;  Published: 04 April 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1902045

Abstract

Telomere shortening in the somatic cells is one of the most well-documented factors of cellular ageing. Telomeres are composed of tandem hexanucleotide repeats that protect cells from unwanted recombination mechanisms, secure the ends of chromosomes and their stability, and are responsible for limited division capacity. Telomerase is an en [...]
Open Access Review

Association of Telomere Length, a Cellular Aging Marker, with Depression, PTSD and Hostility

Received: 28 December 2018;  Published: 21 March 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1901041

Abstract

Depression, PTSD, and hostility are common mental conditions that are associated with aging. A growing body of research has highlighted the possible effects of depression, PTSD, and hostility on aging and telomere length (TL), a cellular aging marker. Individuals who exhibit excessive responses to stressors show notable circulating inflammato [...]
Open Access Review

Cell Senescence, Telomerase, and Senolytic Therapy

Received: 31 December 2018;  Published: 15 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1901034

Abstract

The consensus that cell senescence plays a role in age-related disease has prompted a number of potential clinical interventions, including attempts to reset cell senescence and attempts to remove senescent cells from aging tissues. The latter approach, senolytic therapy, has attracted considerable attention, but both theoretical consideration [...]
Open Access Editorial

Telomere Editorial - Perspectives on Telomeres and Aging

Received: 29 January 2019;  Published: 30 January 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1901031

Abstract

Telomere Editorial-Perspectives on Telomeres and Aging
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