Assessment of alloreactive T cell subpopulations of aged mice in vivo. CD4+ but not CD8+ T cell-mediated rejection response declines with advanced age.

The present investigation explored age-related alterations in T cell populations mediating allospecific responses in vivo. Healthy aged and young H-2b and H-2bxH-2k mice were engrafted with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-disparate bm12 skin, rejection of which requires CD8+ T cells, and MHC class I-disparate bm1 skin, rejection of which requires CD8+ T cells. Aged mice of both genders exhibited prolonged survival of bm12 skin grafts relative to their young counterparts but rejected bm1 skin grafts at a rate equivalent to that of young mice. Consistent with prolonged survival of bm12 skin grafts, markedly diminished levels of Iabm12 CTL activity were elicited from T cells of aged mice in vitro. However, no such decline was observed in the level of Kbm1 CTL from T cells of aged mice. The alterations in Iabm12 allospecific responses were not attributable to quantitative changes in CD4+ T cells of aged mice, and addition of soluble T cell helper factors to response cultures of aged mice did not augment Iabm12 cytotoxic T lymphocytes activity. These data demonstrate that aging fundamentally affects CD4+ T cell-mediated allospecific responses particularly in vivo, and that deficient generation of soluble T cell helper factors alone cannot explain this deficit.