Immunologic modulation by vitamin C in the elderly.
Aging is associated with a decline in both humoral-mediated and cellular-mediated immunity. These aberrations may contribute to morbidity and mortality in the elderly. Since we have previously shown that vitamin C enhances in vitro and in vivo immune functions in young healthy volunteers, we studied the effects of vitamin C on certain immunologic parameters in an elderly population. In vitro lymphocyte proliferation to the mitogen concanavalin-A was significantly less when compared to a young control group. When lymphocytes from the elderly were pre-incubated overnight and cultured in the presence of 10 micrograms/ml of vitamin C, mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation was similar to that from controls without vitamin C in culture. Having demonstrated significant in vitro immunoenhancement with vitamin C, we next studied the effects of oral ingestion of 2 g of vitamin C daily on certain in vitro and in vivo immunologic parameters in the elderly. When compared with a placebo-treated group, 3 weeks of vitamin C treatment did not effect in vitro mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation or in vivo reactivity to common skin test antigens. The augmenting effects of in vitro vitamin C suggest that this essential vitamin may be an effective agent in modulating aberrant immunologic functions in the elderly. The clinical significance of these findings requires further study.
J C
JC
Delafuente
J M
JM
Prendergast
A
A
Modigh
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects
D000941:Antigens; D003208:Concanavalin A; D001205:Ascorbic Acid