title: Enumeration of human peripheral blood dendritic cells throughout the life.
abstract: Human aging is associated with immunosenescence, a process characterized by alterations in numerical and functional features of immune system components. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the main antigen-presenting cells, playing a pivotal role in adaptive and innate immunity. Therefore, we investigated the distribution of human circulating DCs throughout the life, in order to contribute to the knowledge of the physiological background underlying the aging of immune system. Cytofluorimetric analysis of peripheral blood samples by all-aged healthy population showed a significant decrease of circulating DCs and of their two main subsets among age. This reduction was limited to the plasmacytoid cell subtype when young and old subjects were analyzed separately. The analysis of circulating Treg cell number in a cohort of the subjects showed a significant reduction with increasing age and a positive significant correlation to myeloid or plasmacytoid absolute numbers. In conclusion, this work provides a large set of data of normal reference values of peripheral blood dendritic cells in healthy population suitable for comparative clinical studies concerning pathological immune dysfunctions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy. giulia.orsini@for.unipi.it
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Orsini
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Legitimo
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Failli
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Massei
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biver
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Consolini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001772:Blood Cell Count / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000075362:Leukocyte Immunoglobulin-like Receptor B1; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; C105299:LILRB1 protein, human; D000075362:Leukocyte Immunoglobulin-like Receptor B1; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens