Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 May;179(9):1790-1807.
doi: 10.1111/bph.15759. Epub 2022 Jan 21.

Inflammation, ageing and diseases of the lung: Potential therapeutic strategies from shared biological pathways

Aduragbemi A Faniyi  1 , Michael J Hughes  1 , Aaron Scott  1 , Kylie B R Belchamber  1 , Elizabeth Sapey  1
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Inflammation, ageing and diseases of the lung: Potential therapeutic strategies from shared biological pathways

Aduragbemi A Faniyi et al. Br J Pharmacol. 2022 May.
Free article

Abstract

Lung diseases disproportionately affect elderly individuals. The lungs form a unique environment: a highly elastic organ with gaseous exchange requiring the closest proximity of inhaled air containing harmful agents and the circulating blood. The lungs are highly susceptible to senescence, with age and 'inflammageing' creating a pro-inflammatory environment with a reduced capacity to deal with challenges. While lung diseases may have disparate causes, the burden of ageing and inflammation provides a common process that can exacerbate seemingly unrelated pathologies. However, these shared pathways may also provide a common route to treatment, with increased interest in drugs that target ageing processes across respiratory diseases. In this review, we will examine the evidence for the increased burden of lung disease in older adults, the structural and functional changes seen with advancing age and assess what our expanding knowledge of inflammation and ageing pathways could mean for the treatment of lung disease. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed issue on Inflammation, Repair and Ageing. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v179.9/issuetoc.

Keywords: inflammation; lung; mechanics; physiology; senescence; therapeutics.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Ahmad, T., Sundar, I. K., Lerner, C. A., Gerloff, J., Tormos, A. M., Yao, H., & Rahman, I. (2015). Impaired mitophagy leads to cigarette smoke stress-induced cellular senescence: Implications for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The FASEB Journal, 29(7), 2912-2929.
    1. Alexander, S. P. H., Christopoulos, A., Davenport, A. P., Kelly, E., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., & Pawson, A. J. (2021). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: G protein-coupled receptors. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S27-S156.
    1. Alexander, S. P. H., Cidlowski, J. A., Kelly, E., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., Pawson, A. J., & Southan, C. (2021). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: Nuclear hormone receptors. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S246-S263.
    1. Alexander, S. P. H., Fabbro, D., Kelly, E., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., Pawson, A. J., & Southan, C. (2021a). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: Catalytic receptors. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S264-S312.
    1. Alexander, S. P. H., Fabbro, D., Kelly, E., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., Pawson, A. J., & Southan, C. (2021b). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: Enzymes. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S313-S411.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources