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Growing evidence suggests that inflammation contributes to brain aging and neurodegeneration. This study investigates the relationship between global cognitive as well executive function and the inflammatory markers IL-6, CRP, and TNF-α in a population-based study of older adults. A population-based sample, of older people in Southern Italy, was enrolled. We measured serum levels of IL-6, CRP, and TNF-α. We also administered two neuropsychological tests: Mini-Mental State Examination and Frontal Assessment Battery. Rank-based regression models were performed to investigate the relationship between inflammatory markers and cognitive functions, including major demographic and clinical confounders for adjustment. The sample consisted of 1929 subjects aged between 65 and 95 years. Multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that higher serum levels of IL-6 were associated with lower MMSE and FAB scores even after adjustment for demographic data and cardiovascular risk factors. No significant associations were found between cognitive functioning and serum levels of CRP and TNF-α. Our results suggest that higher levels of IL-6 were associated with cognitive impairment in an older adult population of Southern Italy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Poor oral health is common among older adults and can impair essential activities of daily living and contribute to frailty. We did a systematic review of studies on the relationship between oral health factors and frailty among older adults (>60 years), consulting six different electronic databases for studies published from database inception to March 20, 2021. In total, 39 articles met the eligibility requirements, including 12 different indicators of poor oral health related to frailty, which we grouped in four different categories: oral health status deterioration; deterioration of oral motor skills; chewing, swallowing, and saliva disorders; and oral pain. Factors of oral health status deterioration (52%), in particular few remaining teeth (29%), were most frequently associated with frailty. Reduced oral motor skills (27%), especially masticatory function (9%), oral diadochokinesis (5%), occlusal force (7%), and chewing, swallowing, and saliva disorders (20%), especially chewing difficulties [11%]), were less frequent but were similarly considered to be associated with frailty. Our findings could help to assess the contribution of each oral health item to a possible operational definition of this novel frailty phenotype, defined as an age-related gradual loss of oral function together with a decline in cognitive and physical functions., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)