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Review
. 2016 Nov 20;25(15):805-815.
doi: 10.1089/ars.2016.6691. Epub 2016 Aug 3.

Advanced Age Alters Monocyte and Macrophage Responses

Joslyn M Albright  1   2 , Robert C Dunn  2   3 , Jill A Shults  1   2 , Devin M Boe  4 , Majid Afshar  2   3   5   6 , Elizabeth J Kovacs  4
Affiliations
Review

Advanced Age Alters Monocyte and Macrophage Responses

Joslyn M Albright et al. Antioxid Redox Signal. .

Abstract

Significance: With the growing population of baby boomers, there is a great need to determine the effects of advanced age on the function of the immune system. Recent Advances: It is universally accepted that advanced age is associated with a chronic low-grade inflammatory state that is referred to as inflamm-aging, which alters the function of both immune and nonimmune cells. Mononuclear phagocytes play a central role in both the initiation and resolution of inflammation in multiple organ systems and exhibit marked changes in phenotype and function in response to environmental cues, including the low levels of pro-inflammatory mediators seen in the aged.

Critical issues: Although we know a great deal about the function of immune cells in young adults and there is a growing body of literature focusing on aging of the adaptive immune system, much less is known about the impact of age on innate immunity and the critical role of the mononuclear phagocytes in this process.

Future directions: In this article, there is a focus on the tissue-specific monocyte and macrophage subsets and how they are altered in the aged milieu, with the hope that this compilation of observations will spark an expansion of research in the field. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 25, 805-815.

Keywords: aging; clinical; immunology; infection; inflammation.

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Figures

<b>FIG. 1.</b>
FIG. 1.
Macrophage characteristics altered in aging.
<b>FIG. 2.</b>
FIG. 2.
Macrophage mediator-based nomenclature. To see this illustration in color, the reader is referred to the web version of this article at www.liebertpub.com/ars
<b>FIG. 3.</b>
FIG. 3.
TLR2 and TLR4 signaling pathways and aging. This figure illustrates intracellular TLR signaling pathways as discussed in the text of this article. Red arrows and dashed boxes signify components of signal transduction pathways that are found to be involved in age-related monocyte/macrophage dysfunction (11–13, 16, 46). To see this illustration in color, the reader is referred to the web version of this article at www.liebertpub.com/ars
<b>FIG. 4.</b>
FIG. 4.
The physiological effects of inflamm-aging. Examples of organ dysfunction and pathologies related to immunosenescence and innate immune dysregulation in the elderly. To see this illustration in color, the reader is referred to the web version of this article at www.liebertpub.com/ars
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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