Cited by 603Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsTelomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceImmune responses and vaccinations

Immunosenescence and inflammaging in the aging process: age-related diseases or longevity?

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Santoro, Aurelia, Bientinesi, Elisa, Monti, Daniela·2021·Ageing Research Reviews

Abstract

During aging the immune system (IS) undergoes remarkable changes that collectively are known as immunosenescence. It is a multifactorial and dynamic phenomenon that affects both natural and acquired immunity and plays a critical role in most chronic diseases in older people. For a long time, immunosenescence has been considered detrimental because it may lead to a low-grade, sterile chronic inflammation we proposed to call "inflammaging" and a progressive reduction in the ability to trigger effective antibody and cellular responses against infections and vaccinations. Recently, many scientists revised this negative meaning because it can be considered an essential adaptation/remodeling resulting from the lifelong immunological biography of single individuals from an evolutionary perspective. Inflammaging can be considered an adaptive process because it can trigger an anti-inflammatory response to counteract the age-related pro-inflammatory environment. Centenarians represent a valuable model to study the beneficial changes occurring in the IS with age. These extraordinary individuals reached the extreme limits of human life by slowing down the aging process and, in most cases, delaying, avoiding or surviving the major age-associated diseases. They indeed show a complex and heterogeneous phenotype determined by an improved ability to adapt and remodel in response to harmful stimuli. This review aims to point out the intimate relationship between immunosenescence and inflammaging and how these processes impact unsuccessful aging rather than longevity. We also describe the gut microbiota age-related changes as one of the significant triggers of inflammaging and the sex/gender differences in the immune system of the elderly, contributing to the sex/gender disparity in terms of epidemiology, pathophysiology, symptoms and severity of age-related diseases. Finally, we discuss how these phenomena could influence the susceptibility to COVID-19 infection.

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  • During aging, the imbalance between increased production and decreased disposal via autophagy, mitophagy, and proteasome stimulates the innate immune system and triggers the body from a pre-inflammatory state towards a pro-inflammatory state.

    “During aging, the imbalance between the increased production and decreased disposal via autophagy, mitophagy, and proteasome, stimulus the innate immune system and thereby triggers the body from a pre-inflammatory state towards a pro-inflammatory state.234”

    From Inflammation and aging: signaling pathways and intervention therapies (2023) · cites this paper as [234]

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Franceschi, C., Grignolio, A., 2010. Immunosenescence within an evolutionary perspective. In: Grignolio, A. (Ed.), Immunology Today: Three Historical Perspectives Under Three Theoretical Horizons. Bononia University Press, Bologna, pp. 79-99.
  2. x. · DOI · Paper page
  3. Straub, R.H., Mocchegiani, E. (Eds.), 2004. The NeuroendoCrine Immune Network in Ageing Neuroimmune Biology, Vol. 4. Elsevier.

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Authors
Santoro, A., Bientinesi, E., & Monti, D.
Affiliations
  • University of Bologna (IT)
  • University of Florence (IT)
Corresponding author
Monti, Daniela
Venue
Ageing Research Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-11
Volume
71
Pages
101422
ISSN
1568-1637 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3194316549
Cited by
603
References
258
Citations by year
2026: 133 · 2025: 147 · 2024: 154 · 2023: 101 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 8
FWCI
6.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Ageing Research Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (24,213-(2018.1015)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune responses and vaccinations
Keywords
immunosenescence, inflammaging, aging, age-related diseases, centenarians, gut microbiota, sex differences in immunity, COVID-19 susceptibility, chronic inflammation, adaptive immunity, vaccine response
MeSH terms
Immunosenescence, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Humans

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