Inflammaging and anti-inflammaging: a systemic perspective on aging and longevity emerged from studies in humans.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review and conceptual framework proposing the balance between inflammatory and anti-inflammatory networks in aging.
PubMed 17116321 · doi:10.1016/j.mad.2006.11.016
What was done
The authors synthesized human evidence to propose a systemic, evolutionary biology framework for aging. They examined how chronic lifelong exposure to antigens and damaging agents drives a low-grade pro-inflammatory state ('inflammaging') counterbalanced by anti-inflammatory networks ('anti-inflammaging').
What was found
The abstract presents a theoretical framework rather than quantitative results or empirical data; no numerical findings or effect estimates are reported. The authors conceptualize healthy aging and longevity as the product of both a reduced propensity for inflammatory responses and the maintenance of effective anti-inflammatory neutralization.
Why it matters
It frames aging, immunosenescence, and age-related frailty as systemic network phenomena rather than isolated cellular defects, introducing the concept of anti-inflammaging as an active counterbalance determining human longevity.
Limits
This is a narrative review presenting conceptual reasoning without systematic literature search criteria, meta-analytic pooling, or new empirical data. The abstract provides no quantitative metrics or specific human cohort details.
Cited by
- supports Baseline systemic inflammation progressively increases with age.