These authors contributed equally to this work.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2014 May;69(5):495-504. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glt120. Epub 2013 Aug 24.
People may reach the upper limits of the human life span at least partly because they have maintained more appropriate immune function, avoiding changes to immunity termed "immunosenescence." Exceptionally long-lived people may be enriched for genes that contribute to their longevity, some of which may bear on immune function. Centenarian offspring would be expected to inherit some of these, which might be reflected in their resistance to immunosenescence, and contribute to their potential longevity. We have tested this hypothesis by comparing centenarian offspring with age-matched controls. We report differences in the numbers and proportions of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) early- and late-differentiated T cells, as well as potentially senescent CD8(+) T cells, suggesting that the adaptive T-cell arm of the immune system is more "youthful" in centenarian offspring than controls. This might reflect a superior ability to mount effective responses against newly encountered antigens and thus contribute to better protection against infection and to greater longevity.
人们可能至少部分地达到人类寿命的上限，是因为他们保持了更适当的免疫功能，避免了被称为“免疫衰老”的免疫变化。异常长寿的人可能会富集一些有助于长寿的基因，其中一些可能与免疫功能有关。人们预计百岁老人的后代会继承其中的一些基因，这可能反映在他们对免疫衰老的抵抗力上，并有助于他们的潜在长寿。我们通过比较百岁老人的后代与年龄匹配的对照组来检验这一假设。我们报告了 CD4(+)和 CD8(+)早期和晚期分化 T 细胞的数量和比例的差异，以及潜在的衰老 CD8(+)T 细胞，这表明免疫反应系统的适应性 T 细胞在百岁老人的后代中比对照组更“年轻”。这可能反映了他们更有能力对新遇到的抗原产生有效的反应，从而更好地抵御感染，更长寿。
