Quercetin as a Multi-Target Natural Therapeutic in Aging-Related Diseases: Systemic Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms.

Quercetin, a flavonol subclass of dietary polyphenols, has garnered significant attention for its multi-targeted biological activities relevant to aging and chronic degenerative diseases. Acting through potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and metabolic regulatory mechanisms, quercetin modulates key molecular pathways implicated in age-related disorders across multiple systems, including the cardiovascular, skeletal, neurological, metabolic, and ocular domains. This review synthesizes these shared mechanisms to support a systems-level perspective on quercetin's therapeutic potential. By influencing these signaling cascades, quercetin exerts protective effects across a range of aging-associated disorders, namely cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, cerebrovascular accidents, diabetes, dementia, and eye-related diseases. This review is based on a comprehensive literature search conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to March 2025, using keywords related to quercetin, polyphenols, aging, and associated diseases. Articles were selected based on relevance to molecular mechanisms, inclusion of in vitro, in vivo, or clinical data, and publication in peer-reviewed journals. Preventively, quercetin's capacity to modulate inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptotic pathways offers promising strategies to delay disease onset and progression. Personalized approaches employing biomarker profiling and advanced delivery systems may optimize quercetin's bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy in targeted patient groups. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which quercetin modulates aging processes and age-related pathologies, and highlights advances aimed at overcoming its bioavailability limitations. Further clinical investigations are warranted to establish optimized dosing regimens and long-term safety profiles.