Immune function parameters as markers of biological age and predictors of longevity

Irene Martínez de Toda, Ianire Maté, Carmen Vida, Julia Cruces, Mónica De la Fuente, Irene Martínez de Toda, Ianire Maté, Carmen Vida, Julia Cruces, Mónica De la Fuente

Abstract

Chronological age is not a good indicator of how each individual ages and thus how to maintain good health. Due to the long lifespan in humans and the consequent difficulty of carrying out longitudinal studies, finding valid biomarkers of the biological age has been a challenge both for research and clinical studies. The aim was to identify and validate several immune cell function parameters as markers of biological age. Adult, mature, elderly and long-lived human volunteers were used. The chemotaxis, phagocytosis, natural killer activity and lymphoproliferation in neutrophils and lymphocytes of peripheral blood were analyzed. The same functions were measured in peritoneal immune cells from mice, at the corresponding ages (adult, mature, old and long lived) in a longitudinal study. The results showed that the evolution of these functions was similar in humans and mice, with a decrease in old subjects. However, the long-lived individuals maintained values similar to those in adults. In addition, the values of these functions in adult prematurely aging mice were similar to those in chronologically old animals, and they died before their non-prematurely aging mice counterparts. Thus, the parameters studied are good markers of the rate of aging, allowing the determination of biological age.

Keywords: aging; biological age; biomarker; immune function; longevity.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1. Age-related changes in immune functions…
Figure 1. Age-related changes in immune functions in peripheral blood leukocytes from humans and in peritoneal leukocytes from mice
(A) Phagocytic Index: number of latex beads ingested per 100 human neutrophils (A.1) or mouse macrophages (A.2 and A.3); (B) Chemotaxis Index: number of phagocytes on the filter, human neutrophils (B.1) or mouse macrophages (B.2 and B.3); (C) NK cytotoxic activity (percentage of lysis of tumor cells) of human leukocytes (C.1) or mouse leukocytes (C.2 and C.3). (D) Chemotaxis Index: number of human lymphocytes on the filter (D.1) or mouse lymphocytes (D.2 and D.3); (E) Percentage of proliferation of lymphocytes in response to the mitogen Phytohaemagglutinin in the case of humans (E.1) and in response to Concanavalin A in the case of mice (E.2 and E.3). The results corresponding to peritoneal leukocytes from adult prematurely-aging mice (PAM) and non-prematurely-aging mice (NPAM) are shown in A.3, B.3, C.3, D.3, and E.3. A: Adult; M: Mature; O: Old; L: Long-Lived; a: P < 0.05; aa: P < 0.01; aaa: P < 0.001 with respect to the value in adults. b: P < 0.05; bb: P < 0.01; bbb: P < 0.001 with respect to the value in mature individuals. c: P < 0.05; cc: P < 0.01; ccc: P < 0.001 with respect to the value in old subjects. d: P < 0.05; dd: P < 0.01; ddd: P < 0.001 with respect to the value in NPAM.
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier cumulative survival of prematurely…
Figure 2. Kaplan-Meier cumulative survival of prematurely aging mice: PAM (solid line) and non-prematurely aging mice: NPAM (dashed line)
**: P < 0.01.

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Source: PubMed

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