Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Oct;42(5):545-557.
doi: 10.1007/s00281-020-00806-z. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

The interplay between immunosenescence and age-related diseases

Affiliations
Review

The interplay between immunosenescence and age-related diseases

Florencia Barbé-Tuana et al. Semin Immunopathol. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

The aging immune system (immunosenescence) has been implicated with increased morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Of note, T cell aging and low-grade inflammation (inflammaging) are implicated with several age-related conditions. The expansion of late-differentiated T cells (CD28-), regulatory T cells, increased serum levels of autoantibodies, and pro-inflammatory cytokines were implicated with morbidities during aging. Features of accelerated immunosenescence can be identified in adults with chronic inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and are predictive of poor clinical outcomes. Therefore, there is an interplay between immunosenescence and age-related diseases. In this review, we discuss how the aging immune system may contribute to the development and clinical course of age-related diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases.

Keywords: Aging; Cell senescence; Cytokines; Immunosenescence; Inflammaging; T cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Multiple mechanisms of accelerated aging are similarly found in age-related diseases. Abbreviations: CMV, cytomegalovirus; SASP, senescence-associated secretory phenotype

References

    1. Furman D, Campisi J, Verdin E, Carrera-Bastos P, Targ S, Franceschi C, Ferrucci L, Gilroy DW, Fasano A, Miller GW, Miller AH, Mantovani A, Weyand CM, Barzilai N, Goronzy JJ, Rando TA, Effros RB, Lucia A, Kleinstreuer N, Slavich GM. Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nat Med. 2019;25:1822–1832. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0675-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Huang C, Wang Y, Li X, Ren L, Zhao J, Hu Y, Zhang L, Fan G, Xu J, Gu X, Cheng Z, Yu T, Xia J, Wei Y, Wu W, Xie X, Yin W, Li H, Liu M, Xiao Y, Gao H, Guo L, Xie J, Wang G, Jiang R, Gao Z, Jin Q, Wang J, Cao B. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet. 2020;395:497–506. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Franceschi C, Bonafè M, Valensin S, Olivieri F, de Luca M, Ottaviani E, de Benedictis G. Inflamm-aging: an evolutionary perspective on Immunosenescence. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2000;908:244–254. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06651.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Franceschi C, Garagnani P, Vitale G, Capri M, Salvioli S. Inflammaging and ‘Garb-aging’. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2017;28:199–212. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2016.09.005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sun Y, Coppé JP, Lam EWF. Cellular senescence: the sought or the unwanted? Trends Mol Med. 2018;24:871–885. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2018.08.002. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources