The Immune Status of Healthy Centenarians

Thompson, John S.; Wekstein, David R.; Rhoades, J L; Kirkpatrick, Charmaine; Brown, Stephen; Roszman, Thomas L.; Straus, Robert; Tietz, Norbert W.

doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1984.tb02021.x

Cited by 90 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…In agreement with other investigations [42][43][44], the NK cell activity was found to be normal in healthy elders also when compared to healthy young subjects.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Enhanced Cytotoxic Response of Natural Killer Cells to lnterleukin-2 in Alzheimer's Disease

Solerte

Fioravanti²,

Severgnini³

et al. 1996

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

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Experimental data suggest an involvement of immune cellular components in the development of Alzheimer''s disease (AD). Against this background, the spontaneous natural killer (NK) cell activity and the NK-induced cytotoxicity after interleukin-2 (IL-2) were studied in healthy elderly subjects and in patients with dementia of Alzheimer type (SDAT) and multi-infarct type (MID). Higher NK cytotoxicity (expressed as total lysis and percent increase) at different IL-2 concentrations (50 and 100 IU/ml/cells) was demonstrated in patients with SDAT than in healthy elderly subjects (p < 0.001) and MID patients (p < 0.001). NK cell activity of MID patients was similar to that of healthy elderly and healthy young subjects. A negative correlation between the percent increase in NK cytotoxicity after IL-2 and the Mini Mental State Examination Score was also found in SDAT patients (p < 0.01). Alterations of IL-2-mediated NK cytotoxicity may therefore support the neuroimmune hypothesis of AD.

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“…In agreement with other investigations [42][43][44], the NK cell activity was found to be normal in healthy elders also when compared to healthy young subjects.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Enhanced Cytotoxic Response of Natural Killer Cells to lnterleukin-2 in Alzheimer's Disease

Solerte

Fioravanti²,

Severgnini³

et al. 1996

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

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“…Since approximately only 1 out of 10,000 human beings has the chance of becoming a centenarian [33], it can be assumed that survival might be associated with an unusu ally efficient immune system activity, devoid of the agerelated abnormalities frequently observed in 'younger' elderly. Previous studies on the immune function in healthy subjects over 100 years support this concept, since immune response such as natural killer cell cytotoxicity, proliferative responsiveness to mitogenic stimuli and ca pability to cope with oxidative stress were found to be well preserved in centenarians [34][35][36][37],…”

Section: Thyroid Autoantibody Prevalence In Healthy Centenariansmentioning

confidence: 72%

Thyroid Autoimmunity and Ageing

et al. 1995

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Ageing is associated with the appearance of several serum autoantibodies, including thyroid autoantibodies. The biological and clinical significance of this phenomenon is still unknown, since, with the exception of primary myxedema, the prevalence of clinically overt thyroid autoimmune diseases is not increased in the elderly. The peculiar link between autoimmune thyroid failure and ageing is also underscored by the high prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism in elderly subjects with positive serum thyroid autoantibodies, and could be the consequence of preferential age-dependent expression of destructive effector mechanisms and/or increased target gland susceptibility. Thyroid autoimmunity and subclinical hypothyroidism have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of other age-associated disorders, in particular coronary heart disease. Interestingly, recent data from our laboratories showed that thyroid autoantibodies are rare in healthy centenarians and in other highly selected aged populations, while they are frequently observed in unselected or hospitalized elderly. Taken together, these data suggest that thyroid autoimmune phenomena are not the consequence of the ageing process itself, but rather might be related to age-associated disease.

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“…1 and 2). Reports of age-related changes in the absolute and relative proportions of CD4 and CD8 T cells are less consistent (2) but include numerous reports of declines in peripheral blood CD4 percentages in mice (3)(4)(5) and humans (6,7). The proportion of CD4 and CD8 T cells expressing cell surface P-glycoprotein also increases with age in mice (3,8,9).…”

Section: T Cell Subset Patterns That Predict Resistance Tomentioning

confidence: 99%

T Cell Subset Patterns That Predict Resistance to Spontaneous Lymphoma, Mammary Adenocarcinoma, and Fibrosarcoma in Mice

Miller

Chrisp

2002

The Journal of Immunology

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Aging leads to changes in the proportion of several T cell subsets in peripheral blood, but it is not yet known whether these changes have prognostic significance for late-life diseases. To examine this question, levels of T cell subsets were measured at 8 and 18 mo of age in the peripheral blood of mice of a genetically heterogeneous stock, and the mice were then subsequently evaluated for life span and for cause of death. The results indicate that mice whose T cell subset patterns look like those of old mice tend to die at earlier ages, regardless of the specific cause of death. At 18 mo, 39% of the variance within the set of seven measured subsets could be combined statistically into a single number, whose correlation with individual subsets suggested that it could be interpreted as an index of immunological aging. T cell subset pattern, as represented by this index, was a predictor of life span in mice dying of lymphoma, fibrosarcoma, mammary adenocarcinoma, or of all other causes considered together. Even as early as 8 mo of age, T cell subset patterns are significant predictors of all three forms of cancer, although at this age the association is stronger in mated female mice than in virgin mice. These results support two controversial hypotheses, which are not mutually exclusive: 1) early immune senescence might predispose to early death from cancer and 2) differences in aging rate, as monitored by tests of immune status, might accelerate or decelerate a wide range of late life neoplastic diseases.

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The Immune Status of Healthy Centenarians

Cited by 90 publications

References 50 publications

Enhanced Cytotoxic Response of Natural Killer Cells to lnterleukin-2 in Alzheimer's Disease

Enhanced Cytotoxic Response of Natural Killer Cells to lnterleukin-2 in Alzheimer's Disease

Thyroid Autoimmunity and Ageing

T Cell Subset Patterns That Predict Resistance to Spontaneous Lymphoma, Mammary Adenocarcinoma, and Fibrosarcoma in Mice

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