Innate Immunity Laboratory, Institute of Experimental Medicine (IMEX), CONICET-National Academy of Medicine, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ocular Surface Center, Cullen Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Ocul Surf. 2021 Apr;20:139-162. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2021.02.007. Epub 2021 Feb 20.
Since the last century, advances in healthcare, housing, and education have led to an increase in life expectancy. Longevity is accompanied by a higher prevalence of age-related diseases, such as cancer, autoimmunity, diabetes, and infection, and part of this increase in disease incidence relates to the significant changes that aging brings about in the immune system. The eye is not spared by aging either, presenting with age-related disorders of its own, and interestingly, many of these diseases have immune pathophysiology. Being delicate organs that must be exposed to the environment in order to capture light, the eyes are endowed with a mucosal environment that protects them, the so-called ocular surface. As in other mucosal sites, immune responses at the ocular surface need to be swift and potent to eliminate threats but are at the same time tightly controlled to prevent excessive inflammation and bystander damage. This review will detail how aging affects the mucosal immune response of the ocular surface as a whole and how this process relates to the higher incidence of ocular surface disease in the elderly.
自上个世纪以来,医疗保健、住房和教育的进步导致了预期寿命的延长。长寿伴随着与年龄相关的疾病的高发,如癌症、自身免疫、糖尿病和感染,而疾病发病率的部分增加与衰老给免疫系统带来的显著变化有关。眼睛也不能幸免,它本身也会出现与年龄相关的疾病,有趣的是,其中许多疾病的发病机制都与免疫有关。眼睛是娇嫩的器官,为了捕捉光线,必须暴露在环境中,因此眼睛具有保护它们的黏膜环境,即所谓的眼表面。与其他黏膜部位一样,眼表面的免疫反应需要迅速而有力地消除威胁,但同时又需要严格控制,以防止过度炎症和旁观者损伤。这篇综述将详细介绍衰老如何影响整个眼表面的黏膜免疫反应,以及这一过程如何与老年人中更高的眼表面疾病发病率有关。