Articles

Antibodies to the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II subunit RPB1 occur with highest frequency in centenarians

Recently, phage display technology has made it possible to define the circulating repertoire of humoral immunity. This study was designed to define the circulating antibodies specific to centenarians.

Authors: Jungwon Han, So-Hyun Park, Dong-Jo Kim, Hyori Kim, Yoon-Ho Choi, Jong-Hyuk Lee, Sang Chul Park and Junho Chung

TLR-6 SNP P249S is associated with healthy aging in nonsmoking Eastern European Caucasians - A cohort study

To investigate mechanisms that determine healthy aging is of major interest in the modern world marked by longer life expectancies. In addition to lifestyle and environmental factors genetic factors also play ...

Authors: Lutz Hamann, Jasmin Bustami, Leonid Iakoubov, Malgorzata Szwed, Malgorzata Mossakowska, Ralf R. Schumann and Monika Puzianowska-Kuznicka

Effect of a synbiotic on the response to seasonal influenza vaccination is strongly influenced by degree of immunosenescence

Ageing increases risk of respiratory infections and impairs the response to influenza vaccination. Pre- and probiotics offer an opportunity to modulate anti-viral defenses and the response to vaccination via a...

Authors: Agnieszka Przemska-Kosicka, Caroline E. Childs, Sumia Enani, Catherine Maidens, Honglin Dong, Iman Bin Dayel, Kieran Tuohy, Susan Todd, Margot A. Gosney and Parveen Yaqoob

Cellular immune activity biomarker neopterin is associated hyperlipidemia: results from a large population-based study

Increased serum neopterin had been described in older age two decades ago. Neopterin is a biomarker of systemic adaptive immune activation that could be potentially implicated in metabolic syndrome (MetS). Mea...

Authors: Shu-Chun Chuang, Heiner Boeing, Stein Emil Vollset, Øivind Midttun, Per Magne Ueland, Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Martin Lajous, Guy Fagherazzi, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Rudolf Kaaks, Tilman Küehn, Tobias Pischon, Dagmar Drogan, Anne Tjønneland, Kim Overvad, J Ramón Quirós…

Higher plasma levels of complement C3a, C4a and C5a increase the risk of subretinal fibrosis in neovascular age-related macular degeneration

The aim of this study was to investigate the plasma levels of complement C3a, C4a, and C5a in different types of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and whether the levels were related to patie...

Authors: Judith Lechner, Mei Chen, Ruth E. Hogg, Levente Toth, Giuliana Silvestri, Usha Chakravarthy and Heping Xu

Efforts of the human immune system to maintain the peripheral CD8+ T cell compartment after childhood thymectomy

Homeostatic mechanisms to maintain the T cell compartment diversity indicate an ongoing process of thymic activity and peripheral T cell renewal during human life. These processes are expected to be accelerate...

Authors: Manuela Zlamy, Giovanni Almanzar, Walther Parson, Christian Schmidt, Johannes Leierer, Birgit Weinberger, Verena Jeller, Karin Unsinn, Matthias Eyrich, Reinhard Würzner and Martina Prelog

Pneumococcal colonization in older adults

Little is known about pneumococcal carrier states in older adults. The main aim of this study was to evaluate pneumococcal colonization patterns among older adults in two centres in Milan, Italy, before the wi...

Authors: Susanna Esposito, Daniela Mari, Luigi Bergamaschini, Annalisa Orenti, Leonardo Terranova, Luca Ruggiero, Valentina Ierardi, Monia Gambino, Francesco Della Croce and Nicola Principi

Cytomegalovirus viral load within blood increases markedly in healthy people over the age of 70 years

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a highly prevalent herpesvirus, which maintains lifelong latency and places a significant burden on host immunity. Infection is associated with increased rates of vascular disease and ...

Authors: Helen M. Parry, Jianmin Zuo, Guido Frumento, Nikhil Mirajkar, Charlotte Inman, Emma Edwards, Mike Griffiths, Guy Pratt and Paul Moss

Serum BPIFB4 levels classify health status in long-living individuals

People that reach extreme ages (Long-Living Individuals, LLIs) are object of intense investigation for increase/decrease of genetic variant frequencies, genetic methylation levels, protein abundance in serum a...

Authors: Francesco Villa, Alberto Malovini, Albino Carrizzo, Chiara C. Spinelli, Anna Ferrario, Anna Maciąg, Michele Madonna, Riccardo Bellazzi, Luciano Milanesi, Carmine Vecchione and Annibale A. Puca

Fetal thymus graft enables recovery from age-related hearing loss and expansion of CD4-Positive T cells expressing IL-1 receptor type 2 and regulatory T Cells

Accumulating evidence has indicated the relationship between the systemic immune system and the central nervous system including the inner ear.

Authors: Hiroshi Iwai and Muneo Inaba

End stage renal disease patients have a skewed T cell receptor Vβ repertoire

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with defective T-cell mediated immunity. A diverse T-cell receptor (TCR) Vβ repertoire is central to effective T-cell mediated immune responses to foreign antigens....

Authors: Ling Huang, Anton W. Langerak, Ingrid L. M. Wolvers-Tettero, Ruud W. J. Meijers, Carla C. Baan, Nicolle H. R. Litjens and Michiel G. H. Betjes

Peripheral blood T-cell signatures from high-resolution immune phenotyping of γδ and αβ T-cells in younger and older subjects in the Berlin Aging Study II

Aging and latent infection with Cytomegalovirus (CMV) are thought to be major factors driving the immune system towards immunosenescence, primarily characterized by reduced amounts of naïve T-cells and increas...

Authors: Kilian Wistuba-Hamprecht, Karin Haehnel, Nicole Janssen, Ilja Demuth and Graham Pawelec

Probiotic strain Bacillus subtilis CU1 stimulates immune system of elderly during common infectious disease period: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study

Bacillus probiotics health benefits have been until now quite poorly studied in the elderly population. This study aimed to assess the effects of Bacillus subtilis CU1 consumption on i...

Authors: Marie Lefevre, Silvia M. Racedo, Gabrielle Ripert, Béatrice Housez, Murielle Cazaubiel, Corinne Maudet, Peter Jüsten, Philippe Marteau and Maria C. Urdaci

Neo-epitopes emerging in the degenerative hippocampal granules of aged mice can be recognized by natural IgM auto-antibodies

Degenerative granular structures appear progressively with age in the hippocampus of most mouse strains. We recently reported that these granules contain a neo-epitope that is recognised by IgM antibodies pres...

Authors: Gemma Manich, Elisabet Augé, Itsaso Cabezón, Mercè Pallàs, Jordi Vilaplana and Carme Pelegrí

Characteristics of spinal microglia in aged and obese mice: potential contributions to impaired sensory behavior

Both aging and obesity have been recognized widely as health conditions that profoundly affect individuals, families and the society. Aged and obese people often report altered pain responses while underlying ...

Authors: SeungHwan Lee, YaSi Wu, Xiang Qun Shi and Ji Zhang

IL7R gene expression network associates with human healthy ageing

The level of expression of the interleukin 7 receptor (IL7R) gene in blood has recently been found to be associated with familial longevity and healthy ageing. IL7R is crucial for T cell development and important...

Authors: Willemijn M. Passtoors, Erik B. van den Akker, Joris Deelen, Andrea B. Maier, Ruud van der Breggen, Rick Jansen, Stella Trompet, Diana van Heemst, Evelyna Derhovanessian, Graham Pawelec, Gert-Jan B. van Ommen, P. Eline Slagboom and Marian Beekman

Heat shock proteins and hormesis in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Modulation of endogenous cellular defense mechanisms via the vitagene system represents an innovative approach to therapeutic intervention in diseases causing chronic tissue damage, such as in neurodegeneratio...

Authors: Sandro Dattilo, Cesare Mancuso, Guido Koverech, Paola Di Mauro, Maria Laura Ontario, Cateno Concetto Petralia, Antonino Petralia, Luigi Maiolino, Agostino Serra, Edward J. Calabrese and Vittorio Calabrese

NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome gene polymorphism rs7512998 (C>T) predicts aging-related increase of blood pressure, the TAMRISK study

The activation of NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome by cellular stress leads to activation of the inflammasome, and NLRP3 gene polymorphisms have been associated with autoinflammatory d...

Authors: Tarja Kunnas, Kirsi Määttä and Seppo T. Nikkari

Decline of FOXN1 gene expression in human thymus correlates with age: possible epigenetic regulation

Thymic involution is thought to be an important factor of age related immunodeficiency. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of human thymic senescence may lead to the discovery of novel therapeutic approach...

Authors: Maria Danielma dos Santos Reis, Krisztian Csomos, Luciene Paschoal Braga Dias, Zsolt Prodan, Tamas Szerafin, Wilson Savino and Laszlo Takacs

Comprehensive circular RNA profiling reveals that circular RNA100783 is involved in chronic CD28-associated CD8(+)T cell ageing

Ageing brings about the gradual deterioration of the immune system, also known as immunosenescence. The role of non-coding circular RNA in immunosenescence is under studied. Using circular RNA microarray data,...

Authors: Yu-hong Wang, Xu-hui Yu, Shan-shun Luo and Hui Han

Aging diminishes the resistance of AO rats to EAE: putative role of enhanced generation of GM-CSF Expressing CD4+ T cells in aged rats

Aging influences immune response and susceptibility to EAE in a strain specific manner. The study was designed to examine influence of aging on EAE induction in Albino Oxford (AO) rats.

Authors: Zorica Stojić-Vukanić, Mirjana Nacka-Aleksić, Ivan Pilipović, Ivana Vujnović, Veljko Blagojević, Duško Kosec, Mirjana Dimitrijević and Gordana Leposavić

Gene expression of inflammasome components in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of vascular patients increases with age

Chronic low-grade inflammation is considered a driver of many age-related disorders, including vascular diseases (inflammaging). Inhibition of autophagic capacity with ageing was postulated to generate a pro-i...

Authors: Xiaoyu Wu, Maani Hakimi, Markus Wortmann, Jian Zhang, Dittmar Böckler and Susanne Dihlmann

The immunological footprint of CMV in HIV-1 patients stable on long-term ART

Most HIV-infected persons are cytomegalovirus (CMV) seropositive and retain latent virus that can be reactivated by immune activation. Their T cell populations express markers reflecting a late stage of differ...

Authors: Jacquita S. Affandi, Jacinta Montgomery, Samantha J. Brunt, David Nolan and Patricia Price

Erratum to: The effect of aging on the frequency, phenotype and cytokine production of human blood CD4 + CXCR5 + T follicular helper cells: comparison of aged and young subjects

Authors: Maohua Zhou, Ruqiong Zou, Huiquan Gan, Zhimei Liang, Fujun Li, Ting Lin, Yanfei Luo, Xiaoming Cai, Fang He and Erxia Shen

A sustained high fat diet for two years decreases IgM and IL-1 beta in ageing Wistar rats

The immune system undergoes several alterations of innate and adaptive immunity during ageing. The main features of the aged immune system are a reduced diversity of T cell receptors and a reduced activity of ...

Authors: Georg Pongratz, Torsten Lowin, Robert Kob, Roland Buettner, Thomas Bertsch and L. Cornelius Bollheimer

Hormetic effect of rotenone in primary human fibroblasts

Rotenone inhibits the electron transfer from complex I to ubiquinone, in this way interfering with the electron transport chain in mitochondria. This chain of events induces increased levels of intracellular r...

Authors: Shiva Marthandan, Steffen Priebe, Marco Groth, Reinhard Guthke, Matthias Platzer, Peter Hemmerich and Stephan Diekmann

Erratum: Less functional variants of TLR-1/-6/-10 genes are associated with age

Authors: Lutz Hamann, Juozas Kupcinskas, Luis C. Almanza Berrocal, Jurgita Skieceviciene, Andre Franke, Ute Nöthlings and Ralf R. Schumann

Leptin, IL-6, and suPAR reflect distinct inflammatory changes associated with adiposity, lipodystrophy and low muscle mass in HIV-infected patients and controls

HIV-infected patients could exhibit accelerated ageing, since age-associated complications like sarcopenia; increased inflammation; lipodystrophy with loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue and/or gain of viscera...

Authors: Anne Langkilde, Janne Petersen, Jens Henrik Henriksen, Frank Krieger Jensen, Jan Gerstoft, Jesper Eugen-Olsen and Ove Andersen

Effects of ebselen and N-acetyl cysteine on replicative aging of primary human fibroblast strains

Administration of selected concentrations of ebselen and N-acetyl cysteine have been proven to display an antioxidant potential based on their effect on markers of T cell integrity and function in human periph...

Authors: Shiva Marthandan

Less functional variants of TLR-1/-6/-10 genes are associated with age

Determining the prerequisites for healthy aging is a major task in the modern world characterized by a longer lifespan of the individuals. Besides lifestyle and environmental influences genetic factors are inv...

Authors: Lutz Hamann, Juozas Kupcinskas, Luis C. Berrocal Almanza, Jurgita Skieceviciene, Andre Franke, Ute Nöthlings and Ralf R. Schumann

The combined molecular adjuvant CASAC enhances the CD8+ T cell response to a tumor-associated self-antigen in aged, immunosenescent mice

Ineffective induction of T cell mediated immunity in older individuals remains a persistent challenge for vaccine development. Thus, there is a need for more efficient and sophisticated adjuvants that will com...

Authors: Gee Jun Tye, Kyriaki Ioannou, Eunice Amofah, Ruby Quartey-Papafio, Samantha J. Westrop, Pramila Krishnamurthy, Alistair Noble, Phillip M. Harrison, Karin M.L. Gaensler, Linda D. Barber and Farzin Farzaneh

Correlation between CD117+ myeloma plasma cells and hematopoietic progenitor cells in different categories of patients

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a neoplastic disorder of plasma cells interesting mainly the elderly. MM remains an incurable disease, mostly because of the strong interplay between clonal plasma cells (cPCs) and bon...

Authors: Fanny Pojero, Alessandra Casuccio, Francesco Di Bassiano, Francesco Gervasi, Giuseppina Colonna Romano and Calogero Caruso

Association of Toll-like receptor 4 polymorphism with age-dependent systolic blood pressure increase in patients with coronary artery disease

Systolic blood pressure (SBP) increases steadily with age and bears an independent continuous relationship with the incidence of cardiovascular events. Low-grade inflammation is a suspected pathomechanism caus...

Authors: Simon Schneider, Werner Koch, Petra Hoppmann, Romy Ubrich, Stephan Kemmner, Eva Steinlechner, Uwe Heemann, Karl-Ludwig Laugwitz, Adnan Kastrati and Marcus Baumann

The interplay between immune maturation, age, chronic viral infection and environment

The worldwide increase in life expectancy has been associated with an increase in age-related morbidities. The underlying mechanisms resulting in immunosenescence are only incompletely understood. Chronic vira...

Authors: Kristie L Oxford, Myra Grace A dela Pena-Ponce, Kara Jensen, Meghan K Eberhardt, Abigail Spinner, Koen KA Van Rompay, Joseph Rigdon, Katie R Mollan, VV Krishnan, Michael G Hudgens, Peter A Barry and Kristina De Paris

Blood–brain barrier dysfunction developed during normal aging is associated with inflammation and loss of tight junctions but not with leukocyte recruitment

Functional loss of blood–brain barrier (BBB) is suggested to be pivotal to pathogenesis and pathology of vascular-based neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. We recently reported in wild-typ...

Authors: Mina Elahy, Connie Jackaman, John CL Mamo, Virginie Lam, Satvinder S Dhaliwal, Corey Giles, Delia Nelson and Ryusuke Takechi

The immunosenescence-related gene Zizimin2 is associated with early bone marrow B cell development and marginal zone B cell formation

We originally cloned and identified murine Zizimin2 (Ziz2, Dock11) as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for Cdc42 and demonstrated that it activated the formation of filopodia. Since its expression pa...

Authors: Takenori Matsuda, Shougo Yanase, Akinori Takaoka and Mitsuo Maruyama

Hypertension in adult Fabry’s disease: is cardiotrophin-1 a diagnostic biomarker?

Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), a cytokine produced by cardiomyocytes and non-cardiomyocytes in conditions of stress, can be used as a biomarker of left ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction in hypertensive patients...

Authors: Monica Gioia Marazzi, Emanuela Galliera, Elena Vianello, Elena Dozio, Andrea Stella, Guido Tettamanti, Lorenza Tacchini and Massimiliano M Corsi Romanelli

Alzheimer’s disease and infections, where we stand and where we go

No abstract

Authors: Roberto Monastero, Calogero Caruso and Sonya Vasto

Depressive symptoms post hip fracture in older adults are associated with phenotypic and functional alterations in T cells

Ageing is accompanied by reduced immunity, termed immunesenescence. The immune system does not act in isolation and is sensitive to both psychological and physical stress. Hip fracture is a common physical str...

Authors: Niharika Arora Duggal, Jane Upton, Anna C Phillips, Peter Hampson and Janet M Lord

Genetically diverse mice are novel and valuable models of age-associated susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, the disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Use of mouse models may accelerate insight into the disease and tests of therapies sin...

Authors: David E Harrison, Clinton M Astle, M Khalid Khan Niazi, Samuel Major and Gillian L Beamer

The immune response after fracture trauma is different in old compared to young patients

Despite significant medical progress and improved treatment, surgical procedures of proximal femur fractures in older patients are still associated with a high postoperative complication and mortality rate. Re...

Authors: Helen Vester, Markus S Huber-Lang, Qerim Kida, Alexander Scola, Martijn van Griensven, Florian Gebhard, Andreas K Nüssler and Mario Perl

The 21st century epidemic: infections as inductors of neuro-degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex disease resulting in neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Investigations on environmental factors implicated in AD are scarce and the etiology of the disease remain...

Authors: Federico Licastro, Ilaria Carbone, Elena Raschi and Elisa Porcellini

Age-related limitations of interleukin-6 in predicting early mortality in acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an inflammatory cytokine whose levels increase significantly during myocardial infarction (MI).

Authors: Dominika Kanikowska, Małgorzata Pyda, Katarzyna Korybalska, Stefan Grajek, Maciej Lesiak, Andrzej Bręborowicz and Janusz Witowski

The role of platelet gel in osteoarticular injuries of young and old patients

The use of autologous platelet gel in orthopedics is effective in accelerating the healing process of osteochondral, muscle, tendon and ligament lesions. The aim of our study was to verify whether the variabil...

Authors: Claudia Rizzo, Roberta Vetro, Angelo Vetro, Roberto Mantia, Angelo Iovane, Marco Di Gesù, Sonya Vasto, Laura Di Noto, Giuseppina Mazzola and Calogero Caruso

SENIEUR status of the originating cell donor negates certain ‘anti-immunosenescence’ effects of ebselen and N-acetyl cysteine in human T cell clone cultures

Damage to T cells of the immune system by reactive oxygen species may result in altered cell function or cell death and thereby potentially impact upon the efficacy of a subsequent immune response. Here, we as...

Authors: Shiva Marthandan, Robin Freeburn, Susanne Steinbrecht, Graham Pawelec and Yvonne Barnett

A G613A missense in the Hutchinson’s progeria lamin A/C gene causes a lone, autosomal dominant atrioventricular block

LMNA/C mutations have been linked to the premature aging syndrome Hutchinson’s progeria, dilated cardiomyopathy 1A, skeletal myopathies (such as the autosomal dominant variant of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy...

Authors: Francesco Villa, Anna Maciąg, Chiara C Spinelli, Anna Ferrario, Albino Carrizzo, Attilio Parisi, Annalaura Torella, Chiara Montenero, Gianluigi Condorelli, Carmine Vecchione, Vincenzo Nigro, Annibale S Montenero and Annibale A Puca

The association between hearing impairment and polymorphisms of genes encoding inflammatory mediators in Japanese aged population

Aging process is accompanied by a chronic sub-clinical systemic inflammation. This study aimed to assess the association between hearing impairment and polymorphisms of genes encoding cytokines deeply-committe...

Authors: Yasue Uchida, Saiko Sugiura, Hiromi Ueda, Tsutomu Nakashima, Fujiko Ando and Hiroshi Shimokata

Possible role of ABO system in age-related diseases and longevity: a narrative review

ABO blood group antigens are expressed either on the surface of red blood cells either on a variety of other cells. Based on the available knowledge of the genes involved in their biosynthesis and their tissue...

Authors: Claudia Rizzo, Calogero Caruso and Sonya Vasto

Characterization of recovery, repair, and inflammatory processes following contusion spinal cord injury in old female rats: is age a limitation?

Although the incidence of spinal cord injury (SCI) is steadily rising in the elderly human population, few studies have investigated the effect of age in rodent models. Here, we investigated the effect of age ...

Authors: Mitra J Hooshmand, Manuel D Galvan, Elizabeth Partida and Aileen J Anderson

Age-related differences in polyfunctional T cell responses

A reduced number of naïve T cells along with an accumulation of differentiated cell types in aging have been described but little is known about the polyfunctionality of the T cell responses. In this study we ...

Authors: Puja Van Epps, Richard Banks, Htin Aung, Michael R Betts and David H Canaday