title: Diminished cytokines gene expression in lymphoid organs of healthy aged rats.
abstract: Immunuosenescence-related dysregulation of cytokine production is not fully understood and the roles of cytokines in organ aging have been insufficiently studied. This work aimed to compare the expression of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-4, IL-6, interferon-gamma (IFNγ), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGFβ) in lymphoid organs of young (3 months; n = 10), adult (1 year; n = 10), and aged (2 years; n = 7) rats under healthy, steady-state conditions. Cytokine mRNA levels were determined with TaqMan real-time PCR. In the spleen, all cytokine expression gradually declined with age (for representative cytokine IL-2 averages dCt in spleens of 3 months, 1 year and 2 years rats were 13,645, 13,19 and 15,470, respectively). In lymph nodes, all cytokines except TGF-β showed markedly upregulated expression in adult compared to young rats, but all were expressed at very low levels in aged rats. In bone marrow, adult animals showed enhanced IL-2, IFNγ, and TGFβ expression, but similar IL-4 and IL-6 expression, compared to young rats. Bone marrow of aged rats showed very low expression of all the measured cytokines. Our results demonstrated that changes occurred unevenly with aging in different immune system compartments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, University of Warsaw, Poland. mpaczek@biol.uw.edu.pl
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pachówka
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Makula
authors.forename: Grażyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Korczak-Kowalska
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007107:Immune System; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma