Towards Control of Inflammation as an Important Goal in the Treatment of Aging

Today I'll point out a review article that laments the present state of progress towards the control of inflammation in the human body. While acknowledging that great strides have been made in ways to interfere in inflammatory signaling, benefiting many patients, present tools are crude in comparison to the technologies that will most likely be needed in order to truly control unresolved, chronic inflammation and eliminate its contribution to age-related disease. True control of inflammation would imply the ability to (a) trigger resolution mechanisms with specificity, avoiding impairment of the operation of inflammation where it is needed, or at least (b) remove the lion's share of the causes of chronic inflammation. Both seem tall orders, but one or both must be achieved. The reasons why old tissues generate inflammation are manifold. One of the better understood mechanisms is the presence of growing numbers of senescent cells, actively secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines. Further, the microenvironment of aged tissue contains damage-associated molecular patterns of various sorts, produced by stressed or dying cells, and which are a trigger for innate immune system overactivation. Visceral fat tissue is particularly at fault when it comes to ways in which cells can provoke the immune system via signals that are close enough to those produced during infection to rouse an inflammatory response. There are many distinct paths to inflammation, which makes controlling even...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs