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
. 2024 Feb 28;14(3):146.
doi: 10.3390/metabo14030146.

Plant-Derived Senotherapeutics for the Prevention and Treatment of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and Aging

Eleni Mavrogonatou  1 , Dimitris Kletsas  1
Affiliations
Review

Plant-Derived Senotherapeutics for the Prevention and Treatment of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and Aging

Eleni Mavrogonatou et al. Metabolites. .

Abstract

Chronic low back pain, a major cause of disability with a great global socioeconomic impact, has been inextricably associated with intervertebral disc degeneration. On the other hand, an enhanced number of senescent cells has been identified in aged and degenerated intervertebral discs and their senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) has been connected with qualitative/quantitative alterations in the extracellular matrix and ultimately with the disturbance of tissue homeostasis. Given that selective elimination of senescent cells (by the so-called senolytics) or amendment of their secretome towards a less catabolic/inflammatory phenotype (by molecules known as senomorphics) has been reported to alleviate symptoms of several age-associated diseases and to improve tissue quality during aging, here we will review the emerging role of senolytic and senomorphic agents derived from plants and natural products against intervertebral disc degeneration. The mode of action of these senotherapeutics, as well as the challenges in their practical application, will also be explicitly discussed in an attempt to direct their more targeted and effective use in exclusive or combinatorial therapeutic schemes for the prevention and/or treatment of disc degenerative disorders.

Keywords: cellular senescence; extracellular matrix (ECM); intervertebral disc; low back pain; plant-derived metabolites; senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP); senolytics; senomorphics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of plant-derived metabolites with a reported senotherapeutic activity in the intervertebral disc, retrieved from the public chemical database PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structures of plant-derived metabolites with potential senotherapeutic activity in the intervertebral disc, retrieved from the public chemical database PubChem (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Song S., Lam E.W., Tchkonia T., Kirkland J.L., Sun Y. Senescent Cells: Emerging Targets for Human Aging and Age-Related Diseases. Trends Biochem. Sci. 2020;45:578–592. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2020.03.008. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang L., Pitcher L.E., Prahalad V., Niedernhofer L.J., Robbins P.D. Targeting cellular senescence with senotherapeutics: Senolytics and senomorphics. FEBS J. 2023;290:1362–1383. doi: 10.1111/febs.16350. - DOI - PubMed
    1. James S.L., Abate D., Abate K.H., Abay S.M., Abbafati C., Abbasi N., Abbastabar H., Abd-Allah F., Abdela J., Abdelalim A., et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2018;392:1789–1858. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mannarino M., Wu-Martinez O., Sheng K., Li L., Navarro-Ramirez R., Jarzem P., Ouellet J.A., Cherif H., Haglund L. Senolytic Combination Treatment Is More Potent Than Single Drugs in Reducing Inflammatory and Senescence Burden in Cells from Painful Degenerating IVDs. Biomolecules. 2023;13:1257. doi: 10.3390/biom13081257. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. The Lancet Rheumatology The global epidemic of low back pain. Lancet Rheumatol. 2023;5:e305. doi: 10.1016/S2665-9913(23)00133-9. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources