The process of aging changes the interplay of the immune, endocrine and nervous systems

The immune, endocrine and nervous systems interact with each other by means of cytokines. hormones and neurotransmitters. Interaction is dependent on specific receptors and respective signaling pathways in target cells. Durin g aging, changes occur on many levels of these global systems which depend on oxidative damage, non-enzymatic glycosylation, mitochondrial mutations, defects in cell cycle control, mitotic dysregulation, genome instability, t elomere shortening and other chromosomal pathologies. An alteration of the numerical value of a parameter of one system can lead to changes of the num erical value of a variable of another system. In a non-linear dynamic proce ss these changes can contribute to the aging phenotype. Although it is extr emely difficult to dissect linear interrelations of three global systems du ring aging, this review attempts to identify some simple linear pathways. F urthermore, it is demonstrated that chronic inflammatory diseases may accel erate the aging process. This review also reveals that new statistical and computational methods are necessary to unravel the complexity of the aging process. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.