Immunosenescence: deficits in adaptive immunity in the elderly.
Aging is associated clinically with increases in the frequency and severity of infectious diseases and an increased incidence of cancer, chronic inflammatory disorders and autoimmunity. These age-associated immune dysfunctions are the consequence of declines in both the generation of new naïve T and B lymphocytes and the functional competence of memory populations. These alterations collectively are termed immunosenescence.
Hakim
F T
FT
Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. hakimf@mail.nih.gov
Gress
R E
RE
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007110:Immunity, Active / Q000276:immunology*; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000276:immunology*