Qinghua Wang and Gérald Prud’homme publish a Cells review on Klotho and healthy ageing

Professors Qinghua Wang and Prud’homme publish a review in Cells on Klotho’s anti-ageing effects and healthy ageing research

Research context Population ageing is accelerating worldwide, increasing the burden of age-related chronic disease and making healthy ageing a major public-health concern. A review co-authored by Professor Qinghua Wang of Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, and Professor Gérald J. Prud’homme of the University of Toronto, Canada, was recently published in Cells. It reviews Klotho’s anti-ageing biology and potential applications in developing interventions. Author affiliations include both Huashan Hospital and Shanghai Innogen Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd.

Review findings Klotho is considered an important molecule in ageing research. The review explains that Klotho deficiency can produce accelerated-ageing phenotypes, whereas Klotho may have protective effects at multiple levels. Organised around the 12 hallmarks of ageing, it examines research on reducing chronic inflammation, improving mitochondrial function, reducing oxidative stress, slowing telomere shortening and reducing cellular senescence. It also reviews potential protection in age-related processes including fibrosis, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular injury, neurodegenerative disease and sarcopenia.

The review emphasises inflammaging as an important driver of age-related disease. Klotho may act through pathways including inhibition of NF-κB signalling and the NLRP3 inflammasome, with broader implications for age-related tissue damage. It also discusses possible strategies for raising Klotho levels, including exercise, dietary interventions and certain medicines, suggesting directions for future ageing and chronic-disease research.

Directions for further research As a distinguished professor at Huashan Hospital and Innogen’s founder, Professor Wang has long studied metabolic diseases and ageing mechanisms. This work contributes to understanding Klotho’s anti-ageing mechanisms and suggests directions for research into healthy ageing and the prevention and treatment of age-related disease.