Inflammaging targets

Inflammaging refers to the chronic, low-grade inflammation that develops with age and may favor the onset of age-related diseases (ARDs) and geriatric syndromes (GSs). Many molecular mechanisms are involved in causing inflammaging, from innate immunity activation to increased availability of DAMPs and to mitochondria-ER stress. Inflammaging is emerging as pervasive phenomenon acting in a multi-layer fashion, whose targets range from molecular, cellular, tissue/organ and system levels. In this article we will briefly summarize and discuss the main targets for which experimental evidence is available. Importantly, inflammaging is also found in long-lived persons such as centenarians and low levels of inflammation are important for normal development and function of many cell types and tissues. This apparent paradox can be explained by the fact that inflammaging is likely an adaptive response to stress- and age-related processes and includes both inflammatory and antiinflammatory mediators that are inextricably interconnected. The net result depends on the balance between these mediators, on the timing of their production and on the cell type affected.