Liver aging: underlying mechanisms and therapeutic strategies

The accelerating pace of global aging underscores the urgent need to address age-related physiological decline and its associated pathologies. The liver, a central organ for metabolic and immune regulation, undergoes structural and functional deterioration with advanced age, positioning liver aging as a critical concern in geriatric medicine. Due to the liver's cellular heterogeneity and complex physiology, our understanding of its aging mechanisms remains fragmented, lacking an integrated framework to consolidate factors such as oxidative stress, inflammaging, metabolic reprogramming, genomic instability, and epigenetic dysregulation. This review systematically summarizes the physiological processes and molecular mechanisms of liver aging, explores its contributions to disease progression, and discusses current intervention strategies, including dietary and exercise regimens, pharmacological therapies, and gene-editing technologies. By synthesizing existing evidence, this review provides a theoretical framework to advance the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying liver aging and inform the development of innovative anti-aging interventions.