Slower immune system aging in women versus men in the Japanese population.

Background: Gender-related differences in humans are commonly observed in behaviour, physical activity, disease, and lifespan. However, the notion that age-related changes in the immune system differ between men and women remains controversial. To elucidate the relationship between immunological changes and lifespan, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy Japanese subjects (age range: 20-90 years; N = 356) were analysed by using three-colour flow cytometry.

Host resistance and immune responses in advanced age.

Immunosenescence results in populating immune tissues with less functional T cells, and perhaps B cells dendritic cells, that do not function well and produce more type 2 cytokines and fewer type 1 cytokines. Impaired immunity, distinct from immunosenescence, correlates more with disease burden than chronologic age. Older adults who have chronic diseases or chronic infections are more susceptible to common infections and have poor vaccine responses.

Comorbidity is a better predictor of impaired immunity than chronological age in older adults.

Objectives: To determine whether high level of comorbidity, measured using a standardized instrument, can predict impaired immunity in older adults.

Setting: Geriatric outpatient Clinic and Nursing Home Care Unit of Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

Participants: Fifteen men aged 51 to 95 with varying levels of chronic illness.

Immune dysfunction in the elderly and its reversal by antihistamines.

The decline in immunity seen in the elderly is a significant contributor to disease burden. This decline has largely been attributed to alterations in T cell immunity and contributes to an overall increased risk and severity of infection in the elderly. A key component of T cell immunity involves antigen presentation, an event where an antigen is processed and presented to specific immune cells for destruction.