title: Origin of late-onset autoimmune disease.
abstract: Autoimmune disease in the elderly is hypothesized to be caused by an imbalance in T-cell expansion and deletion after an encounter with self-antigens. A decrease in thymic output leads to a decreased pool of naive T cells in the periphery and to increased oligoclonal expansion of T cells. This expansion may be caused by stimulation with autoantigens that drive high-affinity interactions with self-antigens. Accumulation of presenescent, apoptosis-resistant, and proinflammatory T cells results in the growth of these autoreactive T cells. A decreased T-cell activation response that occurs with age leads to several defects that diminish the immune response.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 701 South 19th Street, Lyons Harrison Research Building 473, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
authors.forename: Hui-Chen
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mountz
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015551:Autoimmunity / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology