Level of NK cytotoxic activity in the elderly aged more than 80 years

Myśliwska, Jolanta; Bryl, Ewa; Chodnik, Tomasz; Foerster, Jerzy; Myśliwski, Andrzej

doi:10.1016/0167-4943(92)90036-4

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The ability of natural killer (NK) cells to perform cytotoxic effector functions and to produce IFN-g and IL-8 in response to IL-2 declines in vitro. The number of NK cells in circulation increases with age (50)(51)(52). This implies that aging induces decline in NK cell function, as demonstrated by defective activation and response to biological stimuli in vitro, but this decline may be offset by an increase in the absolute number of NK cells.…”

Section: Aging-related Changes To the Innate Immune System-associatedmentioning

confidence: 94%

The Aging Immune System and Its Relationship to the Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Sharma¹,

Hanania²,

Shim³

2009

Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the lungs that usually manifests late in life. Physiologic and immunologic changes that occur in COPD often mimic changes seen in the aging lung. This has led some to characterize COPD as an ''accelerated aging phenotype.'' At the molecular level, COPD and aging share common mechanisms and are associated with significant dysregulation of the immune systems. Aging and COPD are characterized by increases in proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, which are implicated in aging-related inflammatory diseases and correlate with degree of obstruction in COPD. There is an age-dependent decline in naïve T cells with oligoclonal expansion of CD8 1 CD28 null T cells from chronic antigenic stimulation. The increase in CD8 1 CD28 null T regulatory cells inhibits antigen-specific CD4 1 T cell responses, leading to a decline in adaptive immune response. To compensate for the decline in the adaptive immune function there is a paradoxical up-regulation of innate immune system resulting in a proinflammatory state. The dysregulated adaptive immune system with activated innate immune responses seen with aging results in recruitment and retention of neutrophils, macrophages, and CD4 1 and CD8 1 T cells in the lungs of smokers with COPD. Once the inflammation is triggered, there is a selfperpetuating cascade of inflammation and lung parenchymal damage. This review will focus on how the aging immune system may contribute to COPD development later in life in susceptible individuals.

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Section: Aging-related Changes To the Innate Immune System-associatedmentioning

confidence: 94%

The Aging Immune System and Its Relationship to the Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Sharma¹,

Hanania²,

Shim³

2009

Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society

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“…crepancies, by implementing a detailed protocol to assess the health status of elderly subjects [Senieur protocol (SP); 8] we were able to show that the NK activity of healthy old female subjects was similar to that of younger people [5], and that elderly high NK responders were characterized by an optimal health status and a strong proliferative response to mitogens [9]. Nevertheless, we found that even in the population of apparently healthy old people (who did not, however, fulfil all SP criteria), NK activity was lower than that in young people [7].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Definition of 'Low' and 'High' NK Activity NK activity in our study was arbitrarily designated as high or low on the basis of our long-term experience measuring NK activity in more than 600 elderly people [5][6][7]9]. The cutoff level for defining low and high responses was set at the value of 20%.…”

Section: Isolation Of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The immunological status of the elderly is characterized by the impairment of cell-mediated immunity that is reflected in decreased proliferative responses to T cell [1] and B cell [1, 2] mitogens. However, natural killer (NK) activity, an important component of antiviral and antitumor immunity, has been found to be unchanged [3], increased [4] or dependent on the health status [5][6][7] during physiological aging. In an attempt to resolve these dis-…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Natural Killer Activity and Thyroid Hormone Levels in Young and Elderly Persons

Kmieć

Myśliwska²,

Rachoń³

et al. 2001

Gerontology

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Background: On the basis that (1) multiple interactions exist between the hormonal and immune systems, and (2) aging is accompanied by changes in thyroid hormone metabolism and responsiveness, we postulate that thyroid hormones may be involved in the observed decrease in natural killer (NK) activity in a population of apparently healthy elderly subjects. The purpose of the study is to compare NK cytotoxic activity and serum concentrations of TSH and thyroid hormones in healthy old and young people, and to assess in vitro the effects of triiodothyronine (T₃) on NK activity. Materials and Methods: Sixteen of the 47 healthy old people (mean age 64 ± 5.2) were classified as optimally healthy, and the remainder as ‘almost healthy’ (according to the criteria of the Senieur protocol) [Ligthart et al., Mech Ageing Dev 1984;28:47–55]; the mean age of the healthy young people was 23.3 ± 2.3 years. NK cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was assessed using ⁵¹Cr release from K562 target cells. The cutoff level for defining low and high NK responses was set at a value of 20%. Serum concentrations of TSH, total thyroxine (T₄) and total triiodothyronine (T₃) were measured by radioimmunoassay. Results: NK activity in the ‘optimally healthy’ elderly was high (mean 41 ± 12%, SE), whereas ‘almost healthy’ subjects showed low NK activity (mean 6 ± 5%). Serum T₄ and TSH levels, but not T₃ concentrations were similar in both the young and old. We observed a significant correlation (r = 0.53, n = 21, p < 0.05) between the serum total T₃ level and the NK activity in the elderly individuals. Under in vitro conditions exogenous T₃ significantly increased NK activity in the elderly subjects who had serum T₃ values at the lower end of the reference range. However, no effect of T₃ on NK activity was observed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from either old or young individuals who had serum T₃ levels at the midpoint of the range. Conclusion: Decreased serum concentrations of total T₃ may contribute to low NK activity in the ‘almost healthy’ subgroup of the elderly.

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“…Unfortu nately, most of the elderly are characterized by the diminished cytolytic activity of NK cells [12][13][14]. Level of NK activity correlates with a health status; people with an optimal health status are characterized by high NK values (high NK responders) [15][16][17] while not fully healthy [12,18] or ill [13,19] have low NK activity (low NK responders). The tendency towards declining of NK activity with age has been confirmed by the analysis of the cloned NK cells [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overactivity of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha but Not Interleukin 6 Is Associated with Low Natural Killer Cytotoxic Activity in the Elderly

Myśliwska

Bryl²,

Zorena³

et al. 1997

Gerontology

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In this paper we asked whether the increased production of two proinflammatory cytokines – tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and interleukin-6 (IL6) in the absence of the inflammatory stimulus, a phenomenon frequently occurring in the elderly, may contribute to the decrease of natural killer (NK) cytotoxic activity. NK cell activity is a part of a nonspecific immunity directed against infected and transformed cells. We measured the levels of bioactive TNFα and IL6 during cytotoxic NK reactions and analyzed the effect of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies anti-TNFα and anti-IL6 on the outcome of cytotoxic reaction. Bioactive TNFα was produced in higher amounts during cytotoxic reactions of the elderly with low NK activity in comparison with its production by the elderly with high NK activity. Anti-TNFα decreased already low cytotoxic responses of the elderly while not having an effect on the cytotoxic potential of high responders. More of the bioactive IL6 was released during cytotoxic reactions of the elderly as compared with young people. There was, however, no relation between the height of NK cytotoxic activity and the amount of IL6. Our results suggest that the increased level of TNFα seen in the elderly low NK responders may pose a compensatory mechanism, necessary to keep the highest possible level of NK responses. The increased bioactivity of IL6 during NK reaction of the elderly does not seem to participate in the regulation of the level of NK cytotoxic activity.

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Level of NK cytotoxic activity in the elderly aged more than 80 years

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

The Aging Immune System and Its Relationship to the Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The Aging Immune System and Its Relationship to the Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Natural Killer Activity and Thyroid Hormone Levels in Young and Elderly Persons

Overactivity of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha but Not Interleukin 6 Is Associated with Low Natural Killer Cytotoxic Activity in the Elderly

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