Aging and Chronic Respiratory Diseases: Novel Mechanisms
Jacobo Sellares 1, Mauricio Rojas 2
1 Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA and Servei de Pneumologia, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 2 Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, and The Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
*Correspondence: Jacobo Sellares, Email not available
Abstract
Aging is a progressive loss of physiological integrity leading to impaired function and increased vulnerability to death. Research into the mechanisms of aging could contribute to a better understanding of many chronic diseases. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are chronic respiratory diseases associated with aging due to the fact that “accelerated” aging of the lung has been proposed as an important mechanism in both diseases. Many of the hallmarks that have been described in aging are also present in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Telomere attrition, loss of proteostasis, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, and stem cell exhaustion are all mechanisms of aging present in both diseases. In this review we will examine the underlying mechanisms that link aging with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
