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The relationship between sleep and micronutrients, including magnesium, is implicated in its regulation. The effects of low magnesium and other micronutrients on sleep disruption and telomere loss are not well understood. The present study was carried out in 172 healthy elderly subjects from South Australia. Plasma micronutrients including magnesium were measured. Each participant provided information about their sleep hours (<7 h or ≥7 h). Lymphocyte telomere length (TL) was measured by real-time qPCR assay. Plasma magnesium level was significantly low in subjects who sleep less than 7 h (p = 0.0002). TL was significantly shorter in people who are low in magnesium and sleep less than 7 h (p = 0.01). Plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is negatively associated with magnesium (r = −0.299; p < 0.0001). There is a significant interaction effect of magnesium and Hcy on sleep duration (p = 0.04) and TL (p = 0.003). Our results suggest that inadequate magnesium levels have an adverse impact on sleep and telomere attrition rate in cognitively normal elderly people, and this may be exacerbated by low levels of vitamin B12 and folate that elevate Hcy concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dietary deficiencies of folate and other B vitamin cofactors involved in one-carbon metabolism, together with genetic polymorphisms in key folate-methionine metabolic pathway enzymes, are associated with increases in circulating plasma homocysteine, reduction in DNA methylation patterns, and genome instability events. All of these biomarkers have also been associated with pre-eclampsia. The aim of this review was to explore the literature and identify potential knowledge gaps in relation to the role of folate at the genomic level in either the etiology or the prevention of pre-eclampsia. A systematic search strategy was designed to identify citations in electronic databases for the following terms: folic acid supplementation AND preeclampsia, folic acid supplementation AND genome stability, folate AND genome stability AND pre-eclampsia, folic acid supplementation AND DNA methylation, and folate AND DNA methylation AND pre-eclampsia. Forty-three articles were selected according to predefined selection criteria. The studies included in the present review were not homogeneous, which made pooled analysis of the data very difficult. The present review highlights associations between folate deficiency and certain biomarkers observed in various tissues of women at risk of pre-eclampsia. Further investigation is required to understand the role of folate in either the etiology or the prevention of pre-eclampsia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss of genome integrity may be associated with increased risk for neurodegenerative disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer's disease (AD) individuals have increased DNA damage relative to age- and gender- matched controls using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome (CBMN-Cyt) assay. DNA damage was measured as micronuclei (MN), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPB), and nuclear buds (NBUD) in binucleated cells. The assay was performed on blood samples from 80 participants consisting of (i) MCI cases ( N = 20) and age- and gender- matched controls ( N = 20), and (ii) AD cases ( N = 20) and age- and gender- matched controls ( N = 20). There was a significant increase in MCI NBUD frequency ( P = 0.006) relative to controls, which was also observed in male ( P = 0.03) and female ( P = 0.04) subgroups. For AD cases, there were no significant differences in assay biomarkers relative to controls. There was a significant negative correlation between Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and (i) MN in all controls, ( R = −0.3, P = 0.04), and AD cases ( R = −0.4, P = 0.03), (ii) NPB in all controls, ( R = −0.4, P = 0.006) and AD cases ( R = −0.5, P = 0.01), and (iii) NBUD in MCI cases ( R = −0.5, P = 0.007) and AD cases ( R = −0.7, P = 0.0002). The results suggest that an increase in lymphocyte CBMN-Cyt DNA damage biomarkers may be associated with cognitive decline. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 56:32-40, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes that control folate uptake and metabolism may have an important effect on chromosomal stability. The present study investigated the effect of common SNPs in some of these critical genes on frequency of lymphocytes with micronuclei, a biomarker of chromosome breakage or loss. 164 individuals (94 males and 70 females) of different age ranging from 18 to 73 years participated in this study. Polymorphisms in GCPII (C1561T), RFC (G80A), MTR (A2756G), MTRR (A66G and C524T), TS (tandem repeats, 6bp deletion in 3′-UTR region) and MTHFR (C677T and A1298C) were detected using PCR-based methods. Frequency of binucleated (BN) lymphocytes containing one or more micronuclei (BN-MN) was determined using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay and adjusted for the effects of age and gender. We did not find any significant association between BN-MN frequency and the common SNPs in GCPII, MTRR, TS and MTHFR genes. BN-MN frequency in individuals who carried at least one copy of the rarer G allele for MTR (A2756G) or were homozygotes for the more common G allele for RFC (G80A) had a 14% or 19% lower BN-MN frequency compared to the alternative genotypes for that SNP respectively. It was evident from genotype combination analyses that BN-MN frequency per 1000 BN cells was highest in those with the combined MTR (2756) AA and RFC (80) GA or AA genotype (13.6‰) and lowest in those with the combined MTR (2756) AG or GG and RFC (80) GG genotypes (9.5‰) (P trend=0.015). The RFC G80A and MTR A2756G polymorphisms and their combinations may be important variables that substantially affect lymphocyte BN-MN frequency in this South Australian cohort. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]