Immunity in old age: the skin is to blame

The skin of the elderly cannot resist infectionsElvira Koshkina, Compulenta 

Older people are more at risk of skin cancer and infections because their skin is not able to mobilize the immune system to protect the body.

This discovery contradicts the assumption that defects in the T cells of the immune system are responsible for the decrease in immunity with age. In reality, the problem lies in the skin.

The staff of University College London (UK) conducted an experiment on volunteers. Two groups of subjects (one included people aged 40 and the other 70—year-olds) were injected with antigen to stimulate the immune response of T-lymphocytes. As expected, the older participants of the experiment had a weaker immune response, while the scientists did not find any defects in the T cells. However, it turned out that the "older" skin loses the ability to attract T-cells to the sites of damage (in the figure, an orange T-lymphocyte kills a cancer cell). 

Then the specialists conducted laboratory experiments with skin samples and found that when stimulated, it transmits the proper signals. This means that the process is reversible, and the skin's abilities are recoverable.

According to scientists, the same immune problems can be observed in other tissues of the aging human body. Now the researchers intend to conduct a number of experiments to find suitable ways to stimulate the immune system of older people, which will protect them from infections and the risk of developing skin cancer.

Prepared based on the materials of the BBC.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru31.08.2009