Inflammation, Aging, and Disease: New Perspectives and Interventions

Background
Advances in modern medicine and public health policy have resulted in a dramatic extension of the human lifespan in the last 100 years. However, while living longer, many individuals are spending decades in ill health. Ageing is associated with immunological abnormalities, including immune cell functional defects and increased systemic inflammation, which are associated with the onset and progression of autoimmune diseases, infections, and cancers. The inflammation associated with ageing, or ‘inflammaging’, is characterized with sustained elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, defects in immune cell functionality (i.e. exhaustion), and defects in tumor immunosurveilance. Importantly, inflammaging is not always found in older individuals with divergent healthy and quality of life in individuals over 50 years and beyond; this underscores the need to elucidate the mechanisms driving inflammaging to reveal the most effective preventative measures and therapeutic interventions.

Goal
The purpose of this Research Topic is to shed light on drivers of inflammaging and its impact on overall health. This Research Topic will also cover pharmacological interventions in preclinical or clinical studies and lifestyle interventions that will aid in dampening age associated inflammaging.

Scope and information for Authors
This Research Topic welcomes a range of article types that include but are not limited to the following topics:

• The role of inflammaging in the subversion of healthy aging and longevity

• Elucidating the immune-mediated drivers and networks of inflammaging

• How mechanisms of inflammaging result in age-associated disease onset and progression

• Pro-aging effects of lifestyle choices (diet, exercise)