Department of Physiology, Neuroimmunophysiology and Chrononutrition Research Group, Faculty of Science, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain.
Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2012;2012:670294. doi: 10.1155/2012/670294. Epub 2012 Dec 31.
Age-associated deterioration in the immune system, which is referred to as immunosenescence, contributes to an increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and cancer in the elderly. A summary of major changes associated with aging in immune system is described in this paper. In general, immunosenescence is characterized by reduced levels of peripheral naïve T cells derived from thymus and the loss of immature B lineage cells in the bone marrow. As for macrophages and granulocytes, they show functional decline with advancing age as evidenced by their diminished phagocytic activity and impairment of superoxide generation. The indole melatonin is mainly secreted in the pineal gland although it has been also detected in many other tissues. As circulating melatonin decreases with age coinciding with the age-related decline of the immune system, much interest has been focused on melatonin's immunomodulatory effect in recent years. Here, we underlie the antioxidant and immunoenhancing actions displayed by melatonin, thereby providing evidence for the potential application of this indoleamine as a "replacement therapy" to limit or reverse some of the effects of the changes that occur during immunosenescence.
与衰老相关的免疫系统变化概述。随着年龄的增长，免疫细胞的功能逐渐衰退，表现为吞噬活性降低和超氧化物生成受损。褪黑素主要由松果体分泌，但也在许多其他组织中检测到。随着年龄的增长，循环中的褪黑素减少，与免疫系统的衰老性下降相吻合，近年来，人们对褪黑素的免疫调节作用产生了浓厚的兴趣。在这里，我们强调了褪黑素的抗氧化和免疫增强作用，为这种吲哚胺作为“替代疗法”的潜在应用提供了证据，以限制或逆转免疫衰老过程中发生的一些变化的影响。
