Aging & Longevity

Black carbon (BC) is a highly toxic air pollutant and potent short-lived climate pollutant. China's Dual Carbon strategy-peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060-has driven rapid BC emission reductions. However, global inventories still misrepresent BC emissions in China, biasing estimates of its health and climate impacts. Using a localized BC inventory and revised health risk function, we estimate that over 540,000 premature deaths were attributable to...

The formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), first described in food science, is driven by hyperglycaemia (diabetes mellitus) and the modifications on long-lived proteins (natural ageing); AGE formation is enhanced by oxidative stress and inflammation, which are factors that accompany high-AGE settings of diabetes mellitus and ageing. Exogenous tobacco, ultra-processed foods, pollutants and alcohol contribute to AGE formation. Evidence demonstrates higher concentrations of AGEs in...

What is the ultimate goal of biogerontology (the study of the biology of aging)? A fashionable answer these days, often encountered, is that it is to extend healthspan not lifespan. Here we argue that this is a misguided cliché. Experimental research with animal models has demonstrated the possibility of intervening in and retarding the aging process, and extending lifespan. This, to varying degrees, increases both healthspan and gerospan, the later-life phase in diminished health. Considering...

Efficient muscle regeneration relies on the coordinated crosstalk between muscle stem cells (MuSCs) and their surrounding niche. Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs), like resolvins, serve as critical autocrine and paracrine signals within this microenvironment, with macrophages acting as one of the primary sources of SPMs required to resolve inflammation and boost myogenesis. However, while dysregulation of endogenous SPM synthesis in aged skeletal muscle is known to drive chronic...

Research on brain aging has largely focused on neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and other forms of cognitive decline. However, relatively few studies have examined how age affects self-knowledge in healthy older adults. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of age on the neural correlates of self-referential and other-referential processing, as well as patterns of task-related connectivity. To this end, trait adjectives were...

CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with prior autism trait-based research in the general population, middle-aged and older autistic adults report more extensive sleep problems and worse sleep quality than non-autistic adults. Sleep problems were associated with older age and poorer mental health. Though the study is cross-sectional, the findings highlight the need to explore causal links through intervention. Addressing anxiety, and mental health problems more broadly, may improve sleep quality in ageing...

Brain aging provides an integrative marker of systemic health, but whether regional patterns outperform whole-brain approaches remains unknown. Here, we show that regional brain age signatures achieve superior mortality prediction through identifiable neurovascular-immune mechanisms in 1,240 community-dwelling adults followed for 10 years (120 deaths). While global brain age independently predicts mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.044 per year), a data-driven three-region model combining the left...

INTRODUCTION: Aging is associated with declines in physical and cognitive capacities, which become more pronounced after age 80. Institutionalization may further increase anxiety and depression. This pilot study assessed the feasibility and effects of a dance intervention on physical function, cognition, and mental health in institutionalized older adults with cognitive impairment.

Aging is accompanied by a decline in circulating ketone bodies and progressive cardiac dysfunction, yet whether dietary ketone repletion counteracts cardiac aging in a sex-specific manner remains unclear. Here, we first investigated the associations between plasma ketone bodies and cardiac function in a human cohort, comprising 120 adults (44.78 ± 10.97 years; 66 male/54 female) and 121 aged individuals (69.59 ± 6.88 years; 75 male/46 female). And, we then evaluated the therapeutic potential of...

CONCLUSIONS: The effects of psychosocial stress-inflammation associations are complex and may depend on cardiovascular burden. Replication is needed to establish temporality and clinical relevance.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are ubiquitous on magnetic resonance images (MRI) in older adults. However, the rate and mechanisms of their proliferation remain unclear, as they are inferred mainly from cross-sectional studies and imperfect single indicators of theoretical constructs. To assess the magnitude of WMH change and its modifiers, we conducted a meta-analysis of 54 longitudinal studies. We found the increase in WMH burden over time (pooled effect size) even in the studies with...

Advancements occurred in the last century have gradually extended human lifespan. However, increased lifespan does not necessarily coincide with an equivalent extension of healthy life expectancy. The increasing gap of years between healthy and unhealthy life challenges individual aspirations for a meaningful longevity and strains the sustainability of health and social care systems. Aging remains the main risk factor for diseases, and comorbidity does not fully account for the disparities...

Alternative splicing is a fundamental post-transcriptional mechanism that contributes to cardiovascular development, homeostasis, and disease. Serine/arginine-rich splicing factors (SRSFs), a conserved family of 12 RNA-binding proteins, regulate splice-site selection and other RNA-processing events through their RNA-recognition motifs and arginine/serine-rich domains. Growing evidence implicates SRSF dysregulation in congenital heart disease, cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure, ischemic...

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a large-vessel vasculitis predominantly affecting individuals over 50 years, with a peak incidence between 70 and 80 years. Its pathogenesis involves complex immunological cascades triggered by vascular dendritic cell activation, recruitment of CD4⁺ T cells and monocytes, T helper lymphocyte polarization, and vascular remodeling driven by myofibroblasts and fibroblasts. Growing evidence implicates cellular senescence (particularly in vascular smooth muscle cells,...

The cardio-renal-hepatic-metabolic (CRHM) axis represents the bidirectional network through which cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, metabolic dysfunction, and liver disorders propagate injury across organs. Within this network, Klotho has emerged as a context-dependent regulator linking mineral metabolism, metabolic homeostasis, cellular stress, inflammation, and tissue remodelling. Klotho comprises distinct signalling axes: the renal α-Klotho-Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23...

Cellular senescence contributes to age-associated tissue dysfunction through persistent growth arrest, metabolic remodeling, and altered communication with immune and stromal cells. Senolytic therapies preferentially eliminate susceptible senescent cells, while senomorphic therapies modulate harmful senescence-associated activities. Nanoparticle engineering can improve the delivery of these agents through cargo protection, surface functionalization, and controlled release. Surface ligands can...

This review evaluates the impact of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 on adults aged 25 to 55, focusing on the potential for accelerated biological aging and an increased incidence of acute cardiovascular events. By synthesizing evidence from 110 epidemiological and mechanistic studies, we examine the interplay between viral-induced immune dysregulation, endothelial injury, and systemic physiological decline in a demographic previously considered low-risk for severe outcomes. Our analysis...

Aging is associated with profound alterations in gut microbiota composition and function, including reduced production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), yet it remains unclear whether these age-related microbial changes directly contribute to impaired antiviral defense during influenza A virus (IAV) infection. To address this question, we first characterized age-associated alterations of the gut microbiome and SCFA-related metabolic potential in a murine model of IAV infection. We then used a...

Aging is the predominant risk factor for cardiac dysfunction, driven primarily through a decline in cardiomyocyte and overall myocardial performance. Cellular senescence is becoming increasingly linked to its development, as senescent cardiomyocytes and interstitial cells accumulate with age and exhibit persistent DNA damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation that collectively impair ventricular relaxation and contractility. Senolytics, which selectively eliminate senescent cells,...

Age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, also known as sarcopenia, is closely linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. In this study, we report that senescent skeletal muscle myoblasts exhibit elevated activity and expression of the enzyme glutaminase (GLS1), which is mediated by p38 MAPK signaling and leads to intracellular urea accumulation that impairs mitochondrial function. Pharmacological inhibition of GLS1 with CB-839 reduced urea levels, restored the expression of electron...