PMID- 12410802
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20021213
LR  - 20220311
IS  - 0300-9475 (Print)
IS  - 0300-9475 (Linking)
VI  - 56
IP  - 5
DP  - 2002 Nov
TI  - Circulating, interferon-producing plasmacytoid dendritic cells decline during 
      human ageing.
PG  - 518-21
AB  - Increased frequency and severity of infections in the elderly have been taken as 
      indicative of declining immune function. Dendritic cells (DCs), the most 
      important antigen-presenting cells, play a central role in initiating and 
      modulating immune responses. One type, DC2, arises from precursor plasmacytoid 
      DCs (pDCs), a rare population of circulating blood cells, whose hallmark function 
      is rapid and copious production of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) upon microbial 
      challenge. We found significant decreases of the circulating pDCs during ageing 
      in healthy adult humans, as defined both by flow cytometry and IFN-alpha 
      generation. Mean pDC/mm3 in peripheral blood declined from 7.8 for the youngest 
      age group (18-39 years) to 4.2 for the oldest (60-91 years; P = 0.017). IFN-alpha 
      generation declined similarly, from 3537 to 1201 IU/ml, respectively (P = 0.006). 
      There was also a slight decline over the age range in the amount of IFN generated 
      per pDC (slope = -0.0087; P = 0.046). CD4+ T cells decreased by approximately 20% 
      over the same age range (P = 0.001), while there was no change in the total 
      lymphocyte or monocyte counts.
FAU - Shodell, M
AU  - Shodell M
AD  - Section of HIV Medicine, Department of Medicine, Saint Vincents Catholic Medical 
      Center, New York, NY 1001, USA.
FAU - Siegal, F P
AU  - Siegal FP
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Scand J Immunol
JT  - Scandinavian journal of immunology
JID - 0323767
RN  - 0 (Interferon-alpha)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Aged, 80 and over
MH  - Aging/blood/*immunology/pathology
MH  - CD4 Lymphocyte Count
MH  - Dendritic Cells/cytology/*immunology
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Interferon-alpha/*biosynthesis
MH  - Leukocytes, Mononuclear/cytology/immunology
MH  - Lymphocyte Count
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
EDAT- 2002/11/02 04:00
MHDA- 2002/12/17 04:00
CRDT- 2002/11/02 04:00
PHST- 2002/11/02 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2002/12/17 04:00 [medline]
PHST- 2002/11/02 04:00 [entrez]
AID - 1148 [pii]
AID - 10.1046/j.1365-3083.2002.01148.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Scand J Immunol. 2002 Nov;56(5):518-21. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3083.2002.01148.x.