Endocrino-Immuno-Senescence and Its Correlation with Age-Related Diseases: Molecular Insights into Immunomodulatory Strategies for Healthy Aging.

Abstract

Regulation of the endocrine and immune system is pivotal for bodily homeostasis and healthy physiology, and these processes deteriorate as life progresses from adulthood to senescence. Aging, progressively weakening the structural and functional efficacies of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid-adrenal-gonadal autoregulating axis, results in endocrino-immuno-senescence (EIS) that modulates a variety of complications and diseases. Both endocrine and immune responses are compromised during aging, along with impaired tissue regeneration, weakened pathogen detection, and decreased immune surveillance, and these events increase the susceptibility to infection, autoimmunity, cancers, and chronic disorders. Nonetheless, while immunosenescence modulates systemic inflammation and overall host defense, inflammaging accelerates tissue deterioration and intensifies diverse pathologies. Dysregulation of hormonal, genetic, and epigenetic machineries dampens the immune system, elevates pro-inflammatory activity, and fails to defend an organism against foreign pathogens, representing a link between cellular dysfunction and EIS. To mitigate these events, immunomodulation is an important therapeutic strategy that helps renew endocrine and immune dysregulation and simultaneously diminish age health disparities. Moreover, preservation of hormonal stability, involving immune response, emerges as a central determinant and could serve as a preventive medicine for the health and well-being of aged populations. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which EIS is coordinately associated with a variety of pathological processes and delineates new insights into immunomodulatory strategies ameliorating age-related diseases for healthy aging and quality living.