Biomarkers of Inflammaging and Cellular Senescence in Musculoskeletal (MSK) Diseases: The Knowns and the Unknowns

Advancing age, while a natural trajectory, often leads to several age-related diseases (ARDs) and impacts the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that the incidence of ARDs is only going to increase over the next couple of decades. Musculoskeletal (MSK) diseases associated with advancing age are a major global health burden and are closely associated with cellular senescence, inflammaging and immunosenescence. To target these, a clear pathway with well-defined biomarkers that can then be translated into clinical applications is needed. Clearly defined biomarkers will bring us one step closer to dissecting age-related MSK changes, tracking these changes with advancing age, predicting these MSK ARDs and thus providing a platform towards healthy aging, disease-free life in the elderly and longevity. This review outlines our current knowledge in the field, discusses the current knowns and unknowns, provides an overview of the anti-aging strategies, and finally encourages its readers to consider approaches to help converge biomarkers of aging for clinical translation using next-generation technologies.