Novel classification perspective of geroprotective and senolytic drugs as an antiaging strategy

Abstract

Aging is an inevitable, physiologically irreversible, and progressive process. It involves various detrimental changes in the ability to maintain cellular homeostasis. During the aging period, senescent cells are accumulated. Due to the significant medical advances in the treatment of various life-threatening diseases, life expectancy is rising day by day. Thus, higher speed of population aging brings enhanced prevalence of age-related disorders. Increasing mid-life quality and extending the life span of aging individuals seem possible by decreasing the rate of aging process with the help of various pharmacologically active substances called as geroprotective or senolytic drugs. Several numbers of naturally found and synthetic substances may provide a source of therapeutic drugs which are proposed to have some geroprotective or senolytic effects, reducing the rate of aging and extending the life span. These therapeutic drugs have some beneficial effects on cellular metabolism such as antioxidant, free radical scavenger, immunomodulator, and metal chelator activities. Some of the aforementioned drugs are called as smart molecules because of their pluripotency effects. Attributed to their properties, these drugs may overcome impaired cellular metabolic homeostasis. This chapter aimed to classify geroprotective and senolytic drugs via their structural properties and pharmacological mechanisms.