International Consortium to Classify Ageing-related Pathologies (ICCARP) senescence definitions: achieving international consensus

• DOI: 10.1007/s11357-025-01509-9
• Publication Date: 2025-02-21T07:01:34Z
• Authors: Emma Short; Robert T. R. Huck...; Kambiz Alavian; Winfried M. K. Am...; Thomas M. Barber; Edwin J. R. van Beek; Emyr Benbow; Sunil Bhandari; Phillip Bloom; Carlo Cota; Paul Chazot; Gary Christopher; Marco Demaria; Jorge D. Erusalimsky; David A. Ferenbach; Thomas Foster; Gus Gazzard; Richard Glassock; Noordin Jamal; Raj Kalaria; Venkateswarlu Kan...; Adnan H. Khan; Yamini Krishna; Christiaan Leeuwe...; Ian van der Linde; Antonello Lorenzini; Andrea Britta Maier; Reinhold J. Medina; Cecilia L. Miotto; Abhik Mukherjee; Krishna Mukkanna; James T. Murray; Alexander Nirenberg; Donald B. Palmer; Graham Pawelec; Venkat Reddy; Arianna Caroline ...; Andrew D. Rule; Paul G. Shiels; Carl Sheridan; Jeremy Tree; Dialechti Tsimpida; Zoe C. Venables; Jack Wellington; Stuart R. G. Cali...; Barry L. Bentley
• Keywords: Consensus conference; Senescence

With the global increase in ageing populations, a clear understanding of the physiological and pathological changes associated with ageing is vital for advancing research and clinical practice. Following the World Health Organization’s decision to classify age-related aetiologies, the International Consortium to Classify Ageing-Related Pathologies (ICCARP) was established in 2023, led by Cardiff Metropolitan University.The aim of the ICCARP is to develop a systematic and comprehensive classification system for ageing-related changes including pathologies, diseases, and syndromes. Currently, the ICCARP is in the process of identifying all phenomena that meet the criteria for ageing-related pathologies, to develop proposals for grouping and naming them within a comprehensive classification system. However, during the course of this project, it became evident that certain terms, specifically relating to ‘senescence’, were interpreted and understood in multiple ways, often dependent upon the professional background of an expert and the context in which the term was being used. To achieve our goals, it is vital that we use a universal language when naming and proposing ageing-related changes to provide a clear, unambiguous understanding of the changes and their underlying contribution to maintaining or degrading organismal integrity (physiology versus pathology). Furthermore, establishing clear nomenclature will be advantageous in the wider efforts to unify the study of ageing, and to better align research and clinical practice.The purpose of this letter is to explicitly state the definitions primarily relating to ‘senescence’ that will be used by the ICCARP, as agreed by ICCARP members through consensus meetings in 2024. The terms that will be defined are:1. Normative ageing 2. Senescence3. Cellular senescence, including acute and chronic senescence4. Physiological senescence5. Pathological senescence6. Tissue senescence7. Organ senescence8. Systems senescence9. Organismal senescence