Read More at Fight Aging! The glymphatic system is one of the pathways for drainage of cerebrospinal fluid from the brain to the body. This drainage is necessary to remove metabolic waste from the brain, and there is good evidence for reduced outflow of cerebrospinal fluid to lead to the development of neurodegenerative conditions. The work here adds to this body of evidence, showing that impaired flow of cerebrospinal fluid through the glymphatic system correlates with later severity of Alzheimer’s disease. The glymphatic system is an essential fluid-clearance system in the brain. The highly organized cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) transport system subserves the influx of CSF into the brain parenchyma along the arterial perivascular spaces and subsequent transfer to the brain interstitial space. Impaired brain clearance mechanisms may be an essential factor contributing to the deposition of pathological proteins in Alzheimer’s…
Interactions Between the Aging Immune System and Aging Kidney
Read More at Fight Aging! Researchers here discuss the ways in which the aging of the immune system influences the aging of the kidney, such as through disruption of the normal participation of immune cells in tissue maintenance and repair. With age the immune system falls into a state of chronic inflammation, and unresolved inflammatory signaling is disruptive to the structure and operation of tissues throughout the body. The kidney is but one example of how this contributes to the declines of aging. With the steady increase in the number of elderly individuals globally, age-related diseases emerge as a major challenge to health care workers. Apart from functional and structural changes in the kidneys introduced by aging, immune system decline also significantly increases the risk of age-related kidney diseases. Immunosenescence is a loose definition of age-related changes in the innate…
Targeting the Aging of the Immune System in the Context of Frailty
Read More at Fight Aging! The immune system declines into a state of incapacity (immunosenescence) and chronic inflammation (inflammaging) with advancing age. Unresolved inflammatory signaling is disruptive of tissue function in many ways, from reduced stem cell activity to pathologically altered somatic cell behavior. It is thought to be important in the declining muscle mass and strength that contributes to age-related frailty. Thus addressing immune aging is a significant and important target in the treatment of aging as a whole. Frailty is a highly prevalent geriatric syndrome that has attracted significant attention from physicians and researchers due to its associated increase in vulnerability and healthcare costs, especially in the elderly population. Generally, frail patients suffer from multiple chronic diseases, with comorbidities and polypharmacy greatly challenging their health management. Gerontologists suggest that targeting the common pathogenesis of comorbidities rather than a…
Considering Mitophagy in the Aging Nervous System
Read More at Fight Aging! Mitophagy is the selective version of autophagy focused on recycling mitochondria. Every cell contains hundreds of mitochondria, their primary responsibility the generation of chemical energy store molecules to power cellular processes. Mitochondria are the descendants of ancient symbiotic bacteria. They lead dynamic lives, replicating like bacteria, passing component parts around, and fusing together. Mitophagy is a quality control mechanism, removing damaged mitochondria in order to prevent cellular dysfunction. A good deal of evidence suggests that age-related declines in mitochondrial function are in large part caused by a progressive failure of the operation of mitophagy. Like the general processes of autophagy, mitophagy is thought to decline in efficiency with age. This can result from reasons peculiar to the involvement of mitochondria, such as changes in their dynamics that lead to greater resistance to mitophagy, or to…
Much Yet to Establish Regarding the Role of Regulatory T Cells in Immune System Aging
Read More at Fight Aging! Regulatory T cells, as the name might suggest, are involved in controlling the immune response, particularly damping it down at the point at which it should resolve. They also prevent an inflammatory response from starting when it would be harmful or unnecessary, such as in response to self-antigens. A failure of regulatory T cell function is likely involved in autoimmunity, as well as in the chronic inflammation of aging. As today’s open access paper notes, regulatory T cells may be both harmful and helpful in older individuals, attempting to suppress inappropriate inflammation, but also becoming dysfunctional in ways that both suppress appropriate immune responses to infection and allow autoimmune conditions to arise by failing to suppress the response to self-antigens. Yet all too little of this is certain in the details, and published studies provide…