Noninvasive neonatal thymus graft into the axillary cavity extends the lifespan of old mice.
Neonatal thymus grafts exert a rejuvenating action on various immunological and nonimmunological functions found altered in old mice. Commonly, half of a thymus is grafted under the kidney capsule. The invasiveness of the surgical procedure and the use of limited thymus tissue may explain why precedent survival kinetics remain unaffected. In this trial, we grafted two neonatal thymi into the axillary cavity of old mice, thus reducing the invasiveness of the intervention and increasing the amount of grafted neonatal tissue. Using a Piantanelli parametric model of survivorship, we found a significant change in mortality rate between the two groups (thymus graft and controls).
Basso
Andrea
A
INRCA, Scientific and Technological Research, Ancona, Italy.
Malavolta
Marco
M
Piacenza
Francesco
F
Santarelli
Lory
L
Marcellini
Fiorella
F
Papa
Roberta
R
Mocchegiani
Eugenio
E
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001365:Axilla; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D013534:Survival; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000254:growth & development / Q000637:transplantation*; D013997:Time Factors; D016042:Transplantation, Heterotopic; D015854:Up-Regulation