title: Proliferative responses of B cells from elderly humans: abnormalities in early responsiveness are related to alterations in B cell activation molecules.
abstract: Age-related changes are known to occur in the function of human T cells but less information is available about human B cells during aging. In this study, B cells obtained by negative selection from the peripheral blood of young and elderly subjects were stimulated in vitro with anti-IgM, Staphylococcus aureus Cowan strain I (SAC), or Staph protein A (SpA) from SAC. Their proliferative capabilities with and without lymphokines were quantitated by [3H]thymidine uptake. Stimulated B cells from elderly subjects were reduced in their overall ability to sustain normal levels of proliferation observed for B cells from young subjects. However, time course studies analyzing early proliferative responses revealed that B cells from one subset of elderly displayed persistent hyporesponsiveness whereas another subset demonstrated early hyperresponsiveness compared to B cells from young adults. Experiments to determine the frequencies of B cells with transferrin receptors (TfR) and low-affinity receptors for IgE (Fc epsilon RII/CD23) showed reductions in the expression of these two glycoproteins among stimulated B cells from elderly with the persistent decreases in proliferation. By contrast, unstimulated B cells of elderly subjects with early hyperresponsiveness displayed increased frequencies of TfR-positive cells, which became reduced after stimulation. Further, stimulated B cells from this group demonstrated greater frequencies of CD23 positive cells than young adults (13 vs. 8%). Thus two distinct profiles of proliferative abnormalities can be observed in early cohorts of activated B cells from elderly humans. The association of these abnormalities with differences in TfR and CD23 suggests that certain age-related defects occur relatively early during the B cell activation scheme.
authors.affiliation: William H. Davis Medical Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Whisler
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Newhouse
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte / Q000378:metabolism; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000378:metabolism; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011961:Receptors, Fc / Q000378:metabolism; D017455:Receptors, IgE; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000944:Antigens, Differentiation, B-Lymphocyte; D011961:Receptors, Fc; D017455:Receptors, IgE; D011990:Receptors, Transferrin; D007073:Immunoglobulin E