Pizza Vincenzo, Agresta Anella, D'Acunto Cosimo W, Festa Michela, Capasso Anna
Neurophysiopathology Unit, S. Luca Hospital, Vallo della Lucania (Sa), Italy.
Rev Recent Clin Trials. 2011 Sep;6(3):189-203. doi: 10.2174/157488711796575577.
The increase in the average lifespan and the consequent proportional growth of the elderly segment of society has furthered the interest in studying ageing processes. Ageing may be considered a multifactorial process derived from the interaction between genetic and environmental factors including lifestyle. There is ample evidence in many species that the maximum age attainable (maximum lifespan potential, MLSP) is genetically determined and several mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms are associated with longevity. This review will address the current understanding of the relationship between ageing and several factors both genetics and life style related. Firstly we focused on the most reliable and commonly shared theories which attempt to explain the phenomenon of ageing as the genetic, cellular, neuroendocrine, immunological and free-radicals related theories. Many studies have shown that most of the phenotypic characteristics observed in the aging process are the result of the occurrence, with age, of a low grade chronic pro-inflammatory status called "inflammaging", partially under genetic control. The term indicate that aging is accompanied by a low degree of chronic inflammatory, an up-regulation of inflammatory response and that inflammatory changes are common to many age-related diseases. In this review special attention was dedicated to diseases related to age as atherosclerosis, cancer and Alzheimer disease. Despite the fact that in recent years many theories about ageing have been developed, we are still far from a full understanding of the mechanisms underlying the ageing process.
平均寿命的增加以及随之而来的社会老年群体比例的增长，进一步激发了人们对衰老过程研究的兴趣。衰老可被视为一个由遗传和环境因素（包括生活方式）相互作用产生的多因素过程。在许多物种中，有充分证据表明，可达到的最大年龄（最大寿命潜力，MLSP）是由基因决定的，并且几种线粒体DNA多态性与长寿相关。本综述将阐述目前对衰老与几个因素（包括遗传和生活方式相关因素）之间关系的理解。首先，我们聚焦于最可靠且普遍认可的理论，这些理论试图将衰老现象解释为与遗传、细胞、神经内分泌、免疫和自由基相关的理论。许多研究表明，在衰老过程中观察到的大多数表型特征是随着年龄增长出现的一种低度慢性促炎状态（称为“炎症衰老”）的结果，这种状态部分受基因控制。该术语表明衰老伴随着低度慢性炎症、炎症反应上调，并且炎症变化在许多与年龄相关的疾病中很常见。在本综述中，特别关注了与年龄相关的疾病，如动脉粥样硬化、癌症和阿尔茨海默病。尽管近年来已经提出了许多关于衰老的理论，但我们对衰老过程背后的机制仍远未完全理解。
