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January 19, 2023
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Inflammaging: How aging modulates the immune system
A study evaluated what is the impact of inflammaging on the adaptive and innate immune system.
Developed nations face an increasing burden resulting from the growing numbers of the elderly population. It strains the healthcare sector due to increased morbidity and mortality from conditions like infectious diseases. In addition, the elderly population shows an increased tendency to develop inflammatory and malignant diseases and a reduced capacity to respond to vaccination. There are many driving factors behind the stated changes, but they are mainly caused by the impact of age on the innate and adaptive immune systems. Research shows that the immune system undergoes profound changes due to aging, leading to immune senescence.
The literature has substantiated some of the age-related changes occurring to the adaptive immune system, including:
- a decrease in T cells,
- an increase in CD4 and CD8 memory cells,
- and a reduction in B cell production, among others.
Contrarily, the innate immune system with regard to aging is less researched. However, available evidence suggests the aging process causes a decrease in recruited neutrophils at the inflammatory sites. Moreover, it shows that the innate immune system displays reduced intrinsic antibacterial activity and lessened response to infections and vaccinations. This was evident in a recent study where older subjects had a reduced antibody titer compared to younger participants.
The abovementioned information corresponds to a phenomenon named “inflammaging”, in which oxidative stress, driven by a high antigenic load, exhausts the immune system over time, influencing longevity. In their study, Munteanu et al. sought to evaluate changes in parameters corresponding to innate and adaptive immunity resulting from aging to utilize them as indicators of age-related diseases. The study consisted of 288 healthy subjects aged between 30 to 80 years whose immunological parameters were tested using peripheral blood samples.
Results revealed that the aging process causes humoral and cellular immunocompetence, inducing susceptibility to infections, inflammatory conditions, and malignancy. Their data demonstrated that several immune components, like IgG, IgM, C3, and C4, change between the extremes of age. Moreover, their results highlighted that despite the humoral parameters' mean values being in normal ranges for all tested groups, they displayed a decreasing trend with age.
The researchers concluded that the immune system is impacted by age, exhausting both the innate and adaptive immune cells. Furthermore, the aging process induces dysregulations in the immune response that could lead to age-related disorders. Investigating immune parameters could be a possible way to target and alleviate the impact of the aging process. Research is needed to explore this area further.
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Developed nations face an increasing burden resulting from the growing numbers of the elderly population. It strains the healthcare sector due to increased morbidity and mortality from conditions like infectious diseases. In addition, the elderly population shows an increased tendency to develop inflammatory and malignant diseases and a reduced capacity to respond to vaccination. There are many driving factors behind the stated changes, but they are mainly caused by the impact of age on the innate and adaptive immune systems. Research shows that the immune system undergoes profound changes due to aging, leading to immune senescence.
The literature has substantiated some of the age-related changes occurring to the adaptive immune system, including:
- a decrease in T cells,
- an increase in CD4 and CD8 memory cells,
- and a reduction in B cell production, among others.
Contrarily, the innate immune system with regard to aging is less researched. However, available evidence suggests the aging process causes a decrease in recruited neutrophils at the inflammatory sites. Moreover, it shows that the innate immune system displays reduced intrinsic antibacterial activity and lessened response to infections and vaccinations. This was evident in a recent study where older subjects had a reduced antibody titer compared to younger participants.
The abovementioned information corresponds to a phenomenon named “inflammaging”, in which oxidative stress, driven by a high antigenic load, exhausts the immune system over time, influencing longevity. In their study, Munteanu et al. sought to evaluate changes in parameters corresponding to innate and adaptive immunity resulting from aging to utilize them as indicators of age-related diseases. The study consisted of 288 healthy subjects aged between 30 to 80 years whose immunological parameters were tested using peripheral blood samples.
Results revealed that the aging process causes humoral and cellular immunocompetence, inducing susceptibility to infections, inflammatory conditions, and malignancy. Their data demonstrated that several immune components, like IgG, IgM, C3, and C4, change between the extremes of age. Moreover, their results highlighted that despite the humoral parameters' mean values being in normal ranges for all tested groups, they displayed a decreasing trend with age.
The researchers concluded that the immune system is impacted by age, exhausting both the innate and adaptive immune cells. Furthermore, the aging process induces dysregulations in the immune response that could lead to age-related disorders. Investigating immune parameters could be a possible way to target and alleviate the impact of the aging process. Research is needed to explore this area further.
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Dr. Ana Baroni MD. Ph.D.
Scientific & Medical Advisor
Quality Garant
Ana has over 20 years of consultancy experience in longevity, regenerative and precision medicine. She has a multifaceted understanding of genomics, molecular biology, clinical biochemistry, nutrition, aging markers, hormones and physical training. This background allows her to bridge the gap between longevity basic sciences and evidence-based real interventions, putting them into the clinic, to enhance the healthy aging of people. She is co-founder of Origen.life, and Longevityzone. Board member at Breath of Health, BioOx and American Board of Clinical Nutrition. She is Director of International Medical Education of the American College of Integrative Medicine, Professor in IL3 Master of Longevity at Barcelona University and Professor of Nutrigenomics in Nutrition Grade in UNIR University.
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