Aging and humoral immunity.
If human antibody responses undergo molecular shifts similar to those identified in mice, the appropriate immunization strategy for the elderly would be a passive administration of the protective antibody from young donors rather than an attempt to boost the individual's own response with a more potent vaccine, because the shifted immune system can no longer make the right kind of antibody.
Goidl
E A
EA
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore 21201.
Cerny
J
J
Kelsoe
G
G
Schulze
D H
DH
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D006801:Humans