Inflammaging and Cardiovascular Risk in Old Women.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing biological mechanisms and clinical associations without systematic review methodology
PubMed 41366614 · doi:10.1007/s40292-025-00758-1
What was done
This is a narrative review synthesizing literature on the mechanisms of inflammaging in aging women. The authors examine how postmenopausal estrogen loss, X-linked immune-related gene regulation, epigenetic modifications, and lifestyle factors modulate systemic inflammation and cardiovascular risk.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data, sample sizes, or effect sizes. It qualitatively describes that menopause-induced estrogen decline is linked to elevated circulating inflammatory markers, specifically C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), which associate with higher risks of cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and osteoporosis in older women.
Why it matters
It highlights sex-specific physiological and hormonal drivers of age-related inflammation, arguing that cardiovascular risk reduction and anti-inflammatory lifestyle or pharmacological strategies must be tailored to female biology.
Limits
As a narrative review, it lacks a systematic search protocol, quality assessment of included studies, and quantitative synthesis. The abstract presents broad qualitative summaries without primary data, exact risk ratios, or consideration of residual confounding in the summarized literature.