General system theory of aging. Special role of the immune system. V. I. Dontsov

a small effect or even leads to pathology. Indeed, an increase in cell growth against the background of reduced immunity will only lead to an increase in the frequency of tumors.

      2.4.5. The relationship of the main mechanisms of aging

      The main mechanisms of aging, being the general directions for the implementation of a common single cause of aging, are already manifested by private mechanisms of aging, which can be grouped together according to similar mechanisms, representing general aging syndromes. The development of the syndrome itself in the body occurs according to general laws, regardless of the cause that caused them, therefore the syndromes that develop with aging are a convenient point of application of the effects of anti-aging agents.

      Different mechanisms of aging are interconnected not only vertically, which realizes the common cause of aging depending on the specific conditions of its manifestation in various organs and tissues, but also horizontally – among themselves.

      So, all three main mechanisms of aging are related to each other, affecting each other in one degree or another.

      Consideration of the biological meaning of the main mechanisms of aging leads to the obvious conclusion that the data of the mechanisms inevitably interact with each other in the whole organism – they influence each other, interpenetrate each other:

      – “pollution” reduces the stability of the elements, increasing the likelihood of their damage and death, reduces the efficiency of functioning, including the elements of regulation in the neuro-vegetative centers;

      – the death of elements reduces the cleaning efficiency (including from damaged elements) and the number of regulatory elements;

      – regulation that stimulates proliferation and renewal is, in fact, the main mechanism resisting pollution (“diluting” with rapidly growing new bioplasm), death and damage (adaptive influences). At the same time, impaired regulation is critical for overall adaptability and resistance of the body during aging.

      Note that in the final analysis, the most important is the stochastic mechanism of aging, which implements the main aging process – the damage and death of the main structural units of the body.

      This scheme can be mathematically calculated and opens up possibilities for modeling and forecasting external influences on the main aging processes in an experiment.

      Chapter 3. Modeling the phenomenon and mechanisms of aging

      3.1. Mechanical model of system aging

      3.1.1. An example of a mechanical model of aging systems

      Aging is a common property of both living and non-living systems and is the wear, degradation, reduction of the order, structure, and function of a complex system. The aging phenomenon is easily amenable to theoretical analysis using modern scientific methodology – the theory of systems (Checkland, 1986; Nicolis, 1989; Prigogine, 1960, etc.).

      The basic patterns and the very cause of aging are clearly seen in the example of a mechanical model, for which it suffices to take an auto-car as a specific example of a mechanical system. In this case, it is quite clear that the general reason for the system’s self-change from order to chaos is known; it is one – the natural direction of change sets the law of increasing entropy for naturally occurring reactions in nature for any systems.

      This is the reason, as well as the main mechanism – the stochastic aging of the system.

      Many different natural influences on such a mechanical system in a random way (guided by the law of increasing entropy) lead to the same thing – a decrease in its stability, order, an increase in chaos, that is, an aging system.

      It is also easy to see on this model that the aging mechanisms of even such a simple system are multiple and probabilistic in nature: mechanical (tires, brakes), physical (metal fatigue), physical and chemical (burning out candles), chemical (rusting), biological (fungus), socio-psychological, etc.