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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Researchers Find New Strategy to Protect Elderly
from Infectious Disease
Even a slight boost in the number of these
important T-cells could protect an aging person against disease for
several years
Dec. 17, 2007 – One of the reasons senior citizens
are the most susceptible to infection and disease is they lose certain
while blood cells that are important in fighting off germs. Researchers
claim today to have discovered new information about the immune system
that could lead to new strategies for better protecting the aging population.
The research from Oregon Health & Science
University focused on an important component of the body’s immune
system, a certain type of white blood cell called naive T-cells. These
cells are called “naive” because they have no experience of encountering
germs.
However, once they encounter germs, they learn and
adapt to become strong defenders of the organism. The cells play an
important role in the vaccination process because vaccines, which
contain either weakened or dead viruses, teach naive T-cells how to
recognize germs and prepare the body for fighting infectious diseases at
a later date.
Previous research shows that an individual’s supply
of naive T-cells diminishes over their lifetime, meaning that in old age
a person is more susceptible to infections such as the flu.
“Our research identified one actual process by
which naive T-cells are lost later in life,” explained Janko
Nikolich-Zugich, Ph.D., a senior scientist at the OHSU Vaccine and Gene
Therapy Institute and the Oregon National Primate Research Center and a
professor of molecular microbiology and immunology in the OHSU School of
Medicine.
“Throughout our lives, naive T-cells divide very
slowly in our bodies. This helps maintain sufficient numbers of naive
T-cells while we are young. As we age, naive T-cells are lost and the
remaining ones speed up their division to make up for the losses in
their numbers.
“Interestingly, after a certain point, this
actually causes the numbers of naïve T-cells to dwindle over time.
“Our data shows that once the number of naive
T-cells drops below a critical point, the rapidly dividing naive cells
are very short lived.
“Based on this finding and other information,
research suggests that some of the aging Americans may be better
protected against disease by finding a way to jumpstart production of
new naive T-cells instead of through revaccination.”
Nikolich-Zugich and his colleagues are now working
on methods to encourage the body to restart production of naive T-cells.
“Even a slight boost in the number of these
important T-cells could protect an aging person against disease for
several years,” explained Nikolich-Zugich.
The report is published in the current edition of
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
The research was funded by U.S. Public Health
Service Awards, The National Institute on Aging, a component of the
National Institutes of Health; and Oregon National Primate Research
Center funds.
About OHSU
Oregon Health & Science University is the state’s
only health and research university, and only academic health center. As
Portland's largest employer and the fourth largest in Oregon (excluding
government), OHSU's size contributes to its ability to provide many
services and community support activities not found anywhere else in the
state. It serves more than 184,000 patients, and is a conduit for
learning for more than 3,900 students and trainees. OHSU is the source
of more than 200 community outreach programs that bring health and
education services to each county in the state.
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