An Approach to Reduce Harmful Inflammation in Cardiac Hypertrophy

Chronic inflammation is of great importance in age-related degeneration. In later life, inflammatory signaling becomes constant and unresolved, in contrast to the short-term, rapidly resolved inflammation that occurs in response to infection and injury in youth. This unresolved inflammation is highly disruptive of tissue function and structure. In response to unrelenting inflammatory signaling, cell behaviors change in pathological ways, such as the deposition of calcium into blood vessel walls, or increasing quiescence of stem cells that should be actively supporting tissue. Researchers are in search of ways to suppress the excessive inflammation of aging, but so far the only compelling approaches involve removing the causes of inflammatory signaling, such as the growing population of senescent cells. Otherwise interfering in any specific inflammatory signal via the usual means, removing proteins, blocking receptors, and so forth, means suppressing both excessive and appropriate inflammation. It is certainly possible that some signaling is largely only involved in the excessive inflammation of aging, but to date it appears that any effective mechanism to be targeted in the reduction of chronic inflammation is likely also needed in the normal defense against pathogens and potentially cancerous cells. A greater focus on the causes of chronic inflammation is needed. Beyond senescent cells, the age-damaged environment generates DNA debris, for example, that trigger...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs