Immunosenescence

Immunosenescence is the gradual deterioration of the immune system, brought on by natural age advancement. A 2020 review concluded that the adaptive immune system is affected more than the innate immune system.[1] Immunosenescence involves both the host's capacity to respond to infections and the development of long-term immune memory. Age-associated immune deficiency is found in both long- and short-lived species as a function of their age relative to life expectancy rather than elapsed time.[2]

It has been studied in animal models including mice, marsupials and monkeys.[3][4][5] Immunosenescence is a contributory factor to the increased frequency of morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Along with anergy and T-cell exhaustion, immunosenescence belongs among the major immune system dysfunctional states. However, while T-cell anergy is a reversible condition, as of 2020 no techniques for immunosenescence reversal had been developed.[6][7]

Immunosenescence is not a random deteriorative phenomenon, rather it appears to inversely recapitulate an evolutionary pattern. Most of the parameters affected by immunosenescence appear to be under genetic control.[8] Immunosenescence can be envisaged as the result of the continuous challenge of the unavoidable exposure to a variety of antigens such as viruses and bacteria.[9]

  1. ^ Pangrazzi L, Weinberger B (February 2020). "T cells, aging and senescence". Experimental Gerontology. 134: 110887. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2020.110887. PMID 32092501. S2CID 211237913.
  2. ^ Ginaldi L, Loreto MF, Corsi MP, Modesti M, De Martinis M (August 2001). "Immunosenescence and infectious diseases". Microbes and Infection. 3 (10): 851–857. doi:10.1016/S1286-4579(01)01443-5. PMID 11580980.
  3. ^ Letendre C, Sawyer E, Young LJ, Old JM (2018). "Immunosenescence in a captive semelparous marsupial, the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura)". BMC Zoology. 3: 10. doi:10.1186/s40850-018-0036-3. S2CID 53496572.
  4. ^ Letendre C, Young LJ, Old JM (October 2018). "Limitations in the isolation and stimulation of splenic mononuclear cells in a dasyurid marsupial, Phascogale calura". BMC Research Notes. 11 (1): 712. doi:10.1186/s13104-018-3824-5. PMC 6180634. PMID 30305168.
  5. ^ Nikolich-Zugich J, Rudd BD (August 2010). "Immune memory and aging: an infinite or finite resource?". Current Opinion in Immunology. 22 (4): 535–540. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2010.06.011. PMC 2925022. PMID 20674320.
  6. ^ Crespo J, Sun H, Welling TH, Tian Z, Zou W (April 2013). "T cell anergy, exhaustion, senescence, and stemness in the tumor microenvironment". Current Opinion in Immunology. 25 (2): 214–221. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2012.12.003. PMC 3636159. PMID 23298609.
  7. ^ Zhang Z, Liu S, Zhang B, Qiao L, Zhang Y, Zhang Y (2020). "T Cell Dysfunction and Exhaustion in Cancer". Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 8: 17. doi:10.3389/fcell.2020.00017. PMC 7027373. PMID 32117960.
  8. ^ Franceschi C, Valensin S, Fagnoni F, Barbi C, Bonafè M (December 1999). "Biomarkers of immunosenescence within an evolutionary perspective: the challenge of heterogeneity and the role of antigenic load". Experimental Gerontology. 34 (8): 911–921. doi:10.1016/S0531-5565(99)00068-6. PMID 10673145. S2CID 32614875.
  9. ^ Franceschi C, Bonafè M, Valensin S (February 2000). "Human immunosenescence: the prevailing of innate immunity, the failing of clonotypic immunity, and the filling of immunological space". Vaccine. 18 (16): 1717–1720. doi:10.1016/S0264-410X(99)00513-7. PMID 10689155.