Aging of the immune system: how much can the adaptive immune system adapt?
The competency of the adaptive immune function decreases with age, primarily because of the decline in production of naive lymphocytes in the bone marrow and thymus as well as the expansion of incompetent memory lymphocytes. Here I discuss the recent progress on age-associated changes in lymphocytes and their effect on the adaptive immune system.
Weng
Nan-Ping
NP
Laboratory of Immunology, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA. wengn@mail.nih.gov
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology; D007109:Immunity / Q000502:physiology*; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*