Cardinali Daniel P, Esquifino Ana I, Srinivasan Venkataramanujan, Pandi-Perumal Seithikurippu R
Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Neuroimmunomodulation. 2008;15(4-6):272-8. doi: 10.1159/000156470. Epub 2008 Nov 26.
Aging is associated with a decline in immune function (immunosenescence), a condition known to correlate with increased incidence of cancer as well as infectious and degenerative diseases. Innate, cellular and humoral immunity all exhibit increased deterioration with age. Circulating melatonin decreases with age, and in recent years much interest has been focused on its immunomodulatory effect. Melatonin stimulates the production of progenitor cells for granulocytes and macrophages. It also stimulates the production of natural killer cells and CD4+ cells and inhibits CD8+ cells. The production and release of various cytokines from natural killer cells and T helper lymphocytes are enhanced by melatonin. Melatonin has the potential therapeutic value to enhance immune function in aged individuals.
衰老与免疫功能下降（免疫衰老）相关，免疫衰老与癌症、传染病及退行性疾病发病率增加有关。固有免疫、细胞免疫和体液免疫均随年龄增长而恶化加剧。循环褪黑素水平随年龄下降，近年来其免疫调节作用备受关注。褪黑素可刺激粒细胞和巨噬细胞祖细胞的生成。它还能刺激自然杀伤细胞和CD4+细胞的产生，并抑制CD8+细胞。褪黑素可增强自然杀伤细胞和辅助性T淋巴细胞释放多种细胞因子。褪黑素在增强老年个体免疫功能方面具有潜在治疗价值。
