Obesity, Senescence, and Senolytics

Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2022:274:165-180. doi: 10.1007/164_2021_555.

Abstract

Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, osteoarthritis, cancer, cardiovascular and renal diseases. The onset of obesity is linked to an increase of senescent cells within adipose tissue and other organs. Cellular senescence is a stress response that has been shown to be causally linked to aging and development of various age-related diseases such as obesity. The senescence-associated-secretory phenotype of senescent cells creates a chronic inflammatory milieu that leads to local and systemic dysfunction. The elimination of senescent cells using pharmacological approaches (i.e., senolytics) has been shown to delay, prevent, or alleviate obesity-related organ dysfunction.

Keywords: Adipose tissue; Cellular senescence; Obesity; SASP; Senolytics.

MeSH terms

  • Cellular Senescence / physiology
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2*
  • Humans
  • Obesity / drug therapy
  • Senotherapeutics*

Substances

  • Senotherapeutics