The effect of aging on T cell responses in the horse

D. W. Horohov, J. H. Kydd, D. Hannant

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

Horses greater than 20 years of age exhibit alterations in their immune responses similar to those observed in other aged individuals. The purpose of this study was to characterize immunosenescence in a population of aged ponies. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from aged ponies exhibited a decreased proliferative response to various mitogens that was not overcome by the addition of interleukin 2 (IL-2) to the cultures. No difference in overall expression of the IL-2 receptor was seen between young and aged ponies, though CD8+ cells from aged ponies exhibited increased levels of IL-2 receptor expression. The kinetics of the response to both mitogen and IL-2 did not appear to be affected in the aged PBMCs. These results indicate that the age-related decrease in the proliferative response to mitogens is not due to a failure to produce or respond to IL-2 but probably involves some other process.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-128
Number of pages8
JournalDevelopmental and Comparative Immunology
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2002

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank Dr Eve Pleydell, Mr. Paul Wilton of the Animal Health Trust and his staff for their skilled assistance with sample collection, and Dr Mark Holmes and Cambridge University Veterinary School for access to their flow cytometer. Thanks are also due to the Home of Rest for Horses (Project G.7.99) for their financial support of this work and to the Burroughs Wellcome Trust which enabled the sabbatical of DWH.

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Equids
  • IL-2
  • Immune
  • Mitogens
  • Proliferation
  • Receptor

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Immunology
  • Developmental Biology

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