Frailty is increasingly recognized as a systemic immune disorder rather than a purely clinical syndrome. It is characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation ("inflammaging"), oxidative stress, and impaired cellular repair, reflecting global immune dysregulation and immunosenescence. Recent multi-omics studies have identified frailty-specific immune signatures, including reduced T-cell repertoire diversity and pro-inflammatory monocyte subsets, confirming the central role of immune remodeling in biological aging. The eye, and particularly the cornea and ocular surface, represents an ideal model to investigate these mechanisms due to its immune-privileged nature and sensitivity to systemic cytokine and oxidative changes. Understanding how frailty-associated immune alterations affect ocular health may reveal novel biomarkers of immune aging and inform translational strategies to prevent or mitigate age-related eye disease.
This Research Topic aims to elucidate the immunological mechanisms linking frailty, systemic inflammation, and ocular disease. By integrating insights from immunology, ophthalmology, geriatrics, and translational medicine, it seeks to define how aging-related immune dysregulation contributes to ocular pathology and impaired recovery. The Topic will highlight shared pathways of inflammaging, oxidative stress, and cytokine imbalance that underlie both systemic frailty and ocular tissue vulnerability.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions addressing the intersection between frailty, immune dysregulation, and ocular disease from molecular, translational, and clinical perspectives. Relevant themes include: - Mechanisms of immunosenescence and chronic inflammation ("inflammaging") in frailty; - Oxidative stress and cytokine imbalance as shared drivers of systemic and ocular pathology with an immunological focus; - Molecular and cellular pathways linking frailty-associated immune dysfunction to corneal and retinal disorders; - Immune biomarkers predicting ocular outcomes and recovery in frail or elderly patients; - Immunomodulatory and antioxidant strategies aimed at preserving ocular health and promoting tissue repair.
We invite original research articles, systematic reviews, narrative reviews, and meta-analyses focusing on immune and inflammatory mechanisms across systemic and ocular contexts, with particular emphasis on translational relevance and clinical applicability.
Articles focused solely on oxidative stress or ocular diseases/surgeries without an explicit immunological focus (e.g., studies measuring only oxidative stress markers without immune pathways, mediators, or cellular immune responses) are out of scope for this journal.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Classification
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
