Impact of aging on innate immunity.
Immune responses in higher organisms are triggered by the recognition of a limited diversity of microbiological products by cells of the innate or "natural" immune system. As a result, in addition to the direct protective effect of natural immunity, antigen-presenting cells, particularly dendritic cells, are activated to process and present an enormous number of peptide antigens to the T lymphocytes of the adaptive immune system. These, together with the B lymphocytes, then mediate specific immune responses and maintain acquired immunological memory. The aging immune system is less well able to cope with infectious disease than the youthful immune system; this review will briefly consider what is known of the age-associated alterations in innate immunity, and how these may also impact on adaptive immunity.
Pawelec
G
G
Second Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tübingen Medical School, Germany. graham.pawelec@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Solana
R
R
Remarque
E
E
Mariani
E
E
D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000502:physiology; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000502:physiology*