Ronald E. Gress, Steven G. Deeks
J Clin Invest.
2009;
119(10):2884–2887
doi:10.1172/JCI40855
This article Copyright © 2009, The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Abstract
|
Full text
|
PDF
T
he aging process affects all aspects of the immune system, particularly the T cells. The immune system in older individuals is often characterized by lower T cell numbers, lower naive/memory T cell ratios, and lower T cell diversity. Most measures of inflammation increase with age. Why this happens, and why there is so much person-to-person variability in these changes, is not known. In this issue of the JCI, Sauce and colleagues show that removal of the thymus during infancy results in premature onset of many of these age-associated changes to the immune system (see the related article beginning on page 3070). The effect of thymectomy was particularly notable in those individuals who acquired CMV infection. Data from this study, as well as data from other observational settings, suggest that reduced thymic function and persistent viral infections combine to accelerate a decline in immunologic function.
This file is in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.
If you have not installed and configured the Adobe Acrobat Reader on your system.
Having trouble reading a PDF?
PDFs are designed to be printed out and read, but if you prefer to read them online, you may find it easier if you increase the view size to 125%.
Having trouble saving a PDF?
Many versions of the free Acrobat Reader do not
allow Save. You must instead save the PDF from the JCI Online page you downloaded it from. PC users:
Right-click on the Download link and choose the option that says something like "Save Link As...".
Mac users should hold the mouse button down on the link to get these same options.
Having trouble printing a PDF?
- Try printing one page at a time or to a newer printer.
- Try saving the file to disk before printing rather than opening it "on the fly." This requires that you
configure your browser to "Save" rather than "Launch Application" for the file type "application/pdf", and can
usually be done in the "Helper Applications" options.
- Make sure you are using the latest version of Adobe's Acrobat Reader.
