Abstract
Ageing is associated with declines in many physiological parameters, including multiple immune system functions. The rate of acceleration of the frequency of death due to cardiovascular disease or cancer seems to increase with age from middle age up to around 80 years, plateauing thereafter. Mortality due to infectious disease, however, does not plateau, but continues to accelerate indefinitely. The elderly commonly possess oligoclonal expansions of T cells, especially of CD8 cells, which, surprisingly, are often associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositivity. This in turn is associated with many of the same phenotypic and functional alterations to T cell immunity that have been suggested as biomarkers of immune system aging. Thus, the manner in which CMV and the host immune system interact is critical in determining the "age" of specific immunity. We may therefore consider immunosenescence in some respects as an infectious state. This implies that interventions aimed at the pathogen may improve the organ system affected. Hence, CMV-directed anti-virals or vaccination may have beneficial effects on immunity in later life.
Highlights
Ageing is associated with multiple immune system dysfunctions [1]
It is well-established that the incidence and case fatality-rate of infections like tuberculosis, pneumonia, bacteraemia and cholecystitis are increased in elderly people [2]
Since changes in membrane raft properties have been found in CD4+ T cells from elderly individuals there is the possibility that CD8+ rafts undergo changes due to repeated rounds of stimulation. These changes can lead to a differential capacity of death-inducing signalling complex (DISC) formation and could account for the resistance to apoptosis thought to play a role in the accumulation of CMV-specific CD8+ cells
Summary
Sonya Vasto*1, Giuseppina Colonna-Romano, Anis Larbi, Anders Wikby, Calogero Caruso and Graham Pawelec. Address: 1Gruppo di Studio sull'Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biopatologia e Metedologie Biomediche, University of Palermo, Italy, 2University of Tübingen Medical School, Center for Medical Research, ZMF, Tübingen, Germany and 3Department of Natural Science and Biomedicine, School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Box 1026, 551 11 Jönköping, Sweden
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