There is an immune fountain. In some people, despite the years, the immune system remains young. Researchers from Mayo Clinic in the United States conducted a study on the subject, the results of which have appeared in Nature Aging.
Eternally young immune cells
The role of the immune system is to protect the body from infections and diseases, but with age, it sometimes loses this capacity. The research team found that he was young in some elderly people. Their work is based on a hundred participants: all had consultations at Mayo Clinic because of an autoimmune disease, called giant cell arteritis, which affects the arteries. They found in the sick tissues of these patients specialized immune cells, called T -type T lymphocytes. “”These immune cells behave like young stem cells which usually regenerate and promote healing and growth; But in this specific case, they propagated the disease “they explain in a press release.
What is immune youth?
Thanks to these participants, the researchers were able to describe it “youth immune”depending on the term they invented. “”We observed that these patients had a very young immune system despite their 60 or 70 yearsthey note. But the price to pay for this is autoimmunity“This notion designates cases where the immune system is mistakenly attacks tissues and healthy organs. In these patients, American scientists have also noticed that inhibitors of immune control points, which regulate the immune system, did not work properly.
Immune youth: Identify people at risk of autoimmune disease
“Contrary to what one might think, an immune system that ages at the same time as the organism has advantagesunderlines Dr. Jörg Goronzy, researcher on aging at Mayo Clinic and the main co-author of the article. We must take into account the price to be paid to preserve this immune youth. This can be an autoimmune disease. “The team is currently continuing their research and develops new tests to diagnose people with a high number of immune stem cells,”potentially predisposed to autoimmune diseases later in life “.
