REVIEW article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1639055
This article is part of the Research TopicUnraveling inflammaging : A pathway to Prevent Age-related Disease in Animals - Volume IIView all articles
Age-related Obesity and Inflammaging in Cats
Provisionally accepted
Motoo Kobayashi*
Miki Kobayashi- Seijo Kobayashi Veterinary Clinic, Tokyo, Japan
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Aging is characterized by chronic systemic inflammation accompanied by cellular senescence, immunosenescence, organ dysfunction, and age-related diseases. A chronic low-grade proinflammatory state known as "inflammaging" accelerates age-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, vascular diseases, and certain types of cancer. Senescent cells drive age-related tissue dysfunction partially by inducing a chronic senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) associated with various diseases. Obesity and insulin resistance change with advancing age and are linked to low-grade chronic inflammation, leading to age-related diseases. Obesity results in significant changes in the adipokine profile, such as reduced levels of anti-inflammatory adipokines, e.g., adiponectin. Cats are more prone to obesity than dogs owing to the unique characteristics of their glucose and lipid metabolism. Severely obese cats show excessive visceral fat accumulation, significantly increased triglyceride, free fatty acids, and TNF-α plasma concentrations as proinflammatory markers, and a significant decrease in adiponectin. Aged obese cats with excessive visceral fat exhibit fatty liver and enlarged adipocytes with macrophage infiltration. A healthy lifestyle is recognized as the most effective way to maintain health and fight aging. Aging is inevitable in animals; however, delaying the onset of age-related disease through adequate interventions at the early stages of SASP induction is possible. Adequate nutrition, moderate exercise, and a good mental state can effectively prevent age-related obesity in cats.
Keywords: Aging, Inflammaging, Cats, Obesity, senescence-associated secretory phenotype
Received: 01 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kobayashi and Kobayashi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Motoo Kobayashi, Seijo Kobayashi Veterinary Clinic, Tokyo, Japan
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