TY - JOUR
T1 - The aging of the immune system and its implications for transplantation
AU - McGovern, Kathryn E.
AU - Sonar, Sandip A.
AU - Watanabe, Makiko
AU - Coplen, Christopher P.
AU - Bradshaw, Christine M.
AU - Nikolich, Janko
N1 - Funding Information: Supported by USPHS grants AG020719 and AG052359 and the Bowman Professorship in Medical Sciences to J.N-Ž. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to American Aging Association.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - By the last third of life, most mammals, including humans, exhibit a decline in immune cell numbers, immune organ structure, and immune defense of the organism, commonly known as immunosenescence. This decline leads to clinical manifestations of increased susceptibility to infections, particularly those caused by emerging and reemerging microorganisms, which can reach staggering levels—infection with SARS-CoV-2 has been 270-fold more lethal to older adults over 80 years of age, compared to their 18–39-year-old counterparts. However, while this would be expected to be beneficial to situations where hyporeactivity of the immune system may be desirable, this is not always the case. Here, we discuss the cellular and molecular underpinnings of immunosenescence as they pertain to outcomes of solid organ and hematopoietic transplantation.
AB - By the last third of life, most mammals, including humans, exhibit a decline in immune cell numbers, immune organ structure, and immune defense of the organism, commonly known as immunosenescence. This decline leads to clinical manifestations of increased susceptibility to infections, particularly those caused by emerging and reemerging microorganisms, which can reach staggering levels—infection with SARS-CoV-2 has been 270-fold more lethal to older adults over 80 years of age, compared to their 18–39-year-old counterparts. However, while this would be expected to be beneficial to situations where hyporeactivity of the immune system may be desirable, this is not always the case. Here, we discuss the cellular and molecular underpinnings of immunosenescence as they pertain to outcomes of solid organ and hematopoietic transplantation.
KW - Aging
KW - Immune response
KW - Immunosenescence
KW - Transplantation
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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-022-00720-2
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-022-00720-2
M3 - Review article
SN - 2509-2715
JO - GeroScience
JF - GeroScience
ER -