Trudeau Institute, 154 Algonquin Ave, Saranac Lake, NY 12983, USA.
Aging Dis. 2011 Oct;2(5):374-81. Epub 2011 Oct 28.
Infectious diseases contribute to significant morbidity and mortality in elderly populations. One of the major contributing factors to this is age-related declines in the immune system that diminish the response o both infections and vaccinations. In order to understand how specific changes in the immune system influence the generation of immunity in older individuals, immunologists have developed aging mouse models that allow for experimental manipulation of immune system components. These models have shown that there are dramatic age-related changes in naive CD4 T cell function that have the potential to impact a myriad of immune responses. In this review, we will summarize these findings on the intrinsic changes in CD4 T cell function and discuss how these changes influence immunity.
传染病是导致老年人群发病率和死亡率显著增加的原因之一。导致这种情况的一个主要因素是与年龄相关的免疫系统衰退,这削弱了对感染和疫苗接种的反应。为了了解免疫系统的特定变化如何影响老年人的免疫产生,免疫学家开发了衰老小鼠模型,这些模型允许对免疫系统成分进行实验操作。这些模型表明,幼稚 CD4 T 细胞功能存在明显的与年龄相关的变化,有可能影响多种免疫反应。在这篇综述中,我们将总结 CD4 T 细胞功能的内在变化,并讨论这些变化如何影响免疫。