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Review
. 2020 Jun 17;12(6):1362.
doi: 10.3390/polym12061362.

Role of Changes in State of Bound Water and Tissue Stiffness in Development of Age-Related Diseases

Garry Kerch  1
Affiliations
Review

Role of Changes in State of Bound Water and Tissue Stiffness in Development of Age-Related Diseases

Garry Kerch. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

An essential effect of environmental stiffness on biological processes in cells at present is generally accepted. An increase in arterial stiffness with advanced age has been reported in many publications. The aim of the present review is to summarize current information about possible chemical reactions and physical processes that lead to tissue stiffening and result in age-related diseases in order to find methods that can prevent or retard time-dependent tissue stiffening. The analysis of published data shows that bound water acts as a plasticizer of biological tissues, a decrease in bound water content results in an increase in biological tissue stiffness, and increased tissue stiffness leads to NF-kB activation and triggered actin polymerization-NF-kB activation is associated with age-related diseases. It can be suggested that changes in bound water content through changing tissue stiffness can affect cellular processes and the development of pathologies related to aging. Both age-related diseases and COVID-19 may be associated with tight-junction disruption and increased tissue stiffness and permeability.

Keywords: age-related diseases; bound water; hydration; stiffness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of tightly bound water transformations on tissue stiffness and related cardiovascular diseases.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Increase in extracellular matrix stiffness results in both an increased risk of age-related cardiovascular disease and an increased risk of COVID-19.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated hospitalization rates, by age group, COVID-NET, 14 states, 1–28 March 2020. Cited from Garg S., Kim L., Whitaker M., et al. Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019, COVID-NET, 14 States, 1–30 March 2020. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep (MMWR) 2020; 69:458–464. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6915e3 MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report are service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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