Fulop Tamas, Larbi Anis, Dupuis Gilles, Le Page Aurélie, Frost Eric H, Cohen Alan A, Witkowski Jacek M, Franceschi Claudio
Research Center on Aging, Graduate Program in Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Biopolis, Agency for Science Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore.
Front Immunol. 2018 Jan 10;8:1960. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01960. eCollection 2017.
The immune system is the most important protective physiological system of the organism. It has many connections with other systems and is, in fact, often considered as part of the larger neuro-endocrine-immune axis. Most experimental data on immune changes with aging show a decline in many immune parameters when compared to young healthy subjects. The bulk of these changes is termed immunosenescence. Immunosenescence has been considered for some time as detrimental because it often leads to subclinical accumulation of pro-inflammatory factors and inflamm-aging. Together, immunosenescence and inflamm-aging are suggested to stand at the origin of most of the diseases of the elderly, such as infections, cancer, autoimmune disorders, and chronic inflammatory diseases. However, an increasing number of immune-gerontologists have challenged this negative interpretation of immunosenescence with respect to its significance in aging-related alterations of the immune system. If one considers these changes from an evolutionary perspective, they can be viewed preferably as adaptive or remodeling rather than solely detrimental. Whereas it is conceivable that global immune changes may lead to various diseases, it is also obvious that these changes may be needed for extended survival/longevity. Recent cumulative data suggest that, without the existence of the immunosenescence/inflamm-aging duo (representing two sides of the same phenomenon), human longevity would be greatly shortened. This review summarizes recent data on the dynamic reassessment of immune changes with aging. Accordingly, attempts to intervene on the aging immune system by targeting its rejuvenation, it may be more suitable to aim to maintain general homeostasis and function by appropriately improving immune-inflammatory-functions.
免疫系统是机体最重要的保护性生理系统。它与其他系统有许多联系，实际上，常被视为更大的神经 - 内分泌 - 免疫轴的一部分。与年轻健康受试者相比，大多数关于衰老时免疫变化的实验数据显示许多免疫参数下降。这些变化大多被称为免疫衰老。一段时间以来，免疫衰老被认为是有害的，因为它常常导致促炎因子的亚临床积累和炎症衰老。免疫衰老和炎症衰老共同被认为是大多数老年疾病的根源，如感染、癌症、自身免疫性疾病和慢性炎症性疾病。然而，越来越多的免疫老年病学家对免疫衰老在免疫系统与衰老相关改变中的意义的这种负面解读提出了挑战。如果从进化的角度考虑这些变化，它们更倾向于被视为适应性的或重塑性的，而不仅仅是有害的。虽然可以想象整体免疫变化可能导致各种疾病，但同样明显的是，这些变化对于延长生存/寿命可能是必要的。最近的累积数据表明，如果不存在免疫衰老/炎症衰老这一双重现象（代表同一现象的两个方面），人类寿命将大大缩短。本综述总结了关于衰老时免疫变化动态重新评估的最新数据。因此，试图通过靶向免疫系统的年轻化来干预衰老的免疫系统，可能更适合旨在通过适当改善免疫 - 炎症功能来维持整体稳态和功能。
