How Inflammaging Makes Pneumonia Worse in Mice
Aging Cell authors report that age-related inflammation (inflammaging) drives neutrophils to be released from bone marrow with immature and senescent-like transcriptional and metabolic profiles in mice, reducing phagocytosis and worsening Streptococcus pneumoniae lung infections. Older neutrophils show lower glycolysis, persistent oxidative stress, elevated SA-β-gal, and delayed apoptosis; blocking TNFα with antibodies reduced senescent markers, restored proper neutrophil turnover, and cut lung bacterial burden roughly tenfold. Findings highlight inflammaging-driven neutrophil dysfunction as a potential target to improve pneumonia outcomes in older organisms, though human validation is needed.
Why it mattersTNFα blockade in old mice reduced lung bacterial burden tenfold.