Emerging concept of ageing: Inflammageing

Abstract

The emerging concept of inflammageing is a coinage of inflammation and ageing, that can explain ageing, especially human ageing by the para-inflammation-driven ageing either of physiological or pathological nature. The pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteins produced by innate immune system in response to the continuous environmental attack either from outside or inside of our body. These potentially detrimental pro-inflammatory stimuli late at life may act antagonistically as a beneficial effect such as developmental driving force for organismal formation early at life. The idea of inflammageing is based on the antagonistic pleiotropy theory programmed during evolution. Clinical trials including caloric restriction, sirtuin activators and p38 MAPK inhibitors against metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and Werner syndrome may bring about a new insight into inflammageing and human ageing in general.