Aging is a complex biological process driven by the accumulation of molecular and cellular damage, leading to progressive functional decline and increased vulnerability to disease. Accumulating evidence indicates that remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) may confer systemic protective benefits with potential relevance to aging. This review explores the premise that RIC could serve as a novel anti-aging strategy.
First, we highlight that RIC exerts multi-organ protection such as heart, brain, and other key organs which experience function decline during aging and aging-related diseases. Second, these multi-organ protection effects are mediated through a range of mechanisms implicated in aging, including modulation of excitotoxicity, apoptosis, oxidative stress, blood–brain barrier integrity, neurogenesis, angiogenesis, immune inflammation, mitochondrial function, extracellular vesicle signaling, and epigenetic regulation. Finally, we outline key challenges and propose future directions to advance RIC as an intervention for aging with respect to the view of translational research.
Figures 1 and 2 were created with Nano Banana Pro. This work was supported by the grants from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (82401568), the Xingliao Talent Program of Liaoning Province (XLYC2403195), the Science and Technology Project Plan of Liaoning Province (2023-MSLH-348), and Self-initiated Research Project of General Hospital of the Northern Theater Command (ZZKY2024012 and ZZKY2024013). Department of Neurology, General Hospital of Northern Theatre Command, Shenyang, China The authors declare no competing interests.
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Cui, Y., Liu, QY. & Chen, HS. Remote ischemic conditioning: a systemic strategy against aging. npj Aging (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-026-00513-3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-026-00513-3
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