Review

. 2022 Mar 1;79(8):837-847.

doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.12.017.

Inflammation, Aging, and Cardiovascular Disease: JACC Review Topic of the Week

Luca Liberale¹, Lina Badimon², Fabrizio Montecucco³, Thomas F Lüscher⁴, Peter Libby⁵, Giovanni G Camici⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland; First Clinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/liberale_luca.
² Cardiovascular Research Program ICCC, IR-IIB Sant Pau, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, CiberCV-Institute Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/lbadimon.
³ First Clinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino Genoa-Italian Cardiovascular Network, Genoa, Italy.
⁴ Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland; Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals and Imperial College, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/TomLuscher.
⁵ Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland; University Heart Center, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Research and Education, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: giovanni.camici@uzh.ch.

PMID: 35210039
PMCID: PMC8881676
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.12.017

Review

Inflammation, Aging, and Cardiovascular Disease: JACC Review Topic of the Week

Luca Liberale et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022.

. 2022 Mar 1;79(8):837-847.

doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.12.017.

Authors

Luca Liberale¹, Lina Badimon², Fabrizio Montecucco³, Thomas F Lüscher⁴, Peter Libby⁵, Giovanni G Camici⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland; First Clinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/liberale_luca.
² Cardiovascular Research Program ICCC, IR-IIB Sant Pau, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, CiberCV-Institute Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/lbadimon.
³ First Clinic of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino Genoa-Italian Cardiovascular Network, Genoa, Italy.
⁴ Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland; Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals and Imperial College, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/TomLuscher.
⁵ Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Center for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich, Schlieren, Switzerland; University Heart Center, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Department of Research and Education, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: giovanni.camici@uzh.ch.

PMID: 35210039
PMCID: PMC8881676
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.12.017

Abstract

Aging and inflammation both contribute pivotally to cardiovascular (CV) and cerebrovascular disease, the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. The concept of inflamm-aging recognizes that low-grade inflammatory pathways observed in the elderly contribute to CV risk. Understanding the mechanisms that link inflammation and aging could reveal new therapeutic targets and offer options to cope with the growing aging population worldwide. This review reports recent scientific advances in the pathways through which inflamm-aging mediates age-dependent decline in CV function and disease onset and considers critically the translational potential of such concepts into everyday clinical practice.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; inflamm-aging; inflammation; vascular aging.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Funding Support and Author Disclosures Dr Camici has received support for this work from the Swiss National Science Foundation (310030_175546), the Swiss Heart Foundation, Alfred and Annemarie von Sick Grants for Translational and Clinical Research Cardiology and Oncology, and the Foundation for Cardiovascular Research–Zurich Heart House; and is the recipient of a Sheikh Khalifa's Foundation Assistant Professorship at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Zurich. Dr Liberale has received support from the Swiss Heart Foundation and the Novartis Foundation for Medical-Biological Research. Dr Libby has received funding support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1R01HL134892), the American Heart Association (18CSA34080399), the RRM Charitable Fund, and the Simard Fund. Dr Montecucco has received support from the “Rete Cardiologica” of Italian Ministry of Health (#2754291). Drs Liberale, Libby, and Camici are coinventors on the International Patent WO/2020/226993 filed in April 2020; the patent relates to the use of antibodies which specifically bind interleukin-1α to reduce various sequelae of ischemia-reperfusion injury to the central nervous system. Dr Liberale has received speaker fees outside of this work from Daichi-Sankyo. Dr Badimon is founder of 2 spin-offs (Glycardial Diagnostics and Ivestatin Therapeutics); has several patents; has received consultancy fees from Sanofi and Novartis; and has received speaker fees from Lilly, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca (all unrelated to this work). Dr Lüscher has received educational and research grants outside this work from Abbott, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daichi-Sankyo, Novartis, Servier, Sanofi, and Vifor; and has received speaker fees from Amgen and Daiichi-Sankyo. Dr Libby has served as an unpaid consultant to or been involved in clinical trials for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Baim Institute, Beren Therapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics, Genentech, Kancera, Kowa Pharmaceuticals, Medimmune, Merck, Norvo Nordisk, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Regeneron; has served as a member of scientific advisory board for Amgen, Caristo, Cartesian, Corvidia Therapeutics, CSL Behring, DalCor Pharmaceuticals, Dewpoint, Kowa Pharmaceuticals, Olatec Therapeutics, Medimmune, Novartis, PlaqueTec, and XBiotech; his laboratory has received research funding in the last 2 years from Novartis; has served on the Board of Directors of XBiotech, Inc; has a financial interest in XBiotech, a company developing therapeutic human antibodies; and his interests were reviewed and are managed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Partners HealthCare in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies. Dr Montecucco has reported that he has no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

Figures

**Figure 1.. Immunosenescence and inflamm-aging.**
“Immunosenescence” describes the effect of aging on immune cell distribution and characteristics and sustains inflamm-aging.

**Figure 2.. Garbaging.**
Misplaced and misfolded proteins accumulate with age and are recognized as damage-associated molecular patterns by common receptors eventually fueling inflamm-aging with implications for age-related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions.

**Central illustration:. Targeting inflamm-aging to cope with age-related cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases.**
Different interventions targeting inflamm-aging-related pathways are now being tested in the context of age-related conditions. CV: cardiovascular; CBV: cerebrovascular.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Liberale L, Montecucco F, Schwarz L, Luscher TF, Camici GG. Inflammation and cardiovascular diseases: lessons from seminal clinical trials. Cardiovasc Res 2021;117:411–422. - PubMed
1. Libby P Inflammation in Atherosclerosis-No Longer a Theory. Clin Chem 2021;67:131–142. - PubMed
1. Poulain M, Pes GM, Grasland C et al. Identification of a geographic area characterized by extreme longevity in the Sardinia island: the AKEA study. Exp Gerontol 2004;39:1423–9. - PubMed
1. Frasca D, Blomberg BB. Inflammaging decreases adaptive and innate immune responses in mice and humans. Biogerontology 2016;17:7–19. - PMC - PubMed
1. Alpert A, Pickman Y, Leipold M et al. A clinically meaningful metric of immune age derived from high-dimensional longitudinal monitoring. Nat Med 2019;25:487–495. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Actions
Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Medical
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- MedlinePlus Health Information

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Inflammation, Aging, and Cardiovascular Disease: JACC Review Topic of the Week

Affiliations

Inflammation, Aging, and Cardiovascular Disease: JACC Review Topic of the Week

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical