Biomarkers and Inflammatory Network in Aging: Targets for Therapies

The importance of the interactions between KIRs and HLA ligands in the development of human autoimmune and viral diseases

Killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) regulate the activation of natural killer cells through their interaction with human leucocyte antigens (HLA). KIR and HLA loci are highly polymorphic, and certain KIR/HLA combinations have been found to protect against viral infections or to predispose to autoimmune disorders. In particular, some activating KIR profiles may be detrimental in autoimmune pathogenesis, and specific KIR genes may be particularly aggressive in the clearance of different microorganisms, protecting individuals in the control of a given pathogen. Here we reviewed a growing body of evidence purporting the influence of KIR polymorphism and KIR-HLA interaction in the develo…

Phenoloxidase-dependent cytotoxic mechanism in ascidian (Styela plicata) hemocytes active against erythrocytes and K562 tumor cells.

The cytotoxic activity against rabbit erythrocytes (RE) and human K562 tumor cells by Styela plicata hemocytes was significantly related to the phenoloxidase (PO) which converts phenols to quinone and initiates the melanogenic pathway. The effector hemocyte population, separated in a Percoll density gradient band, enriched in a granulocyte type named "morula cells", was examined with RE in a hemocyte cytotoxic assay and plaque forming cell assay. Inhibition experiments with the copper chelating agents 1-phenyl-2-thiourea and tropolone, the substrate analogue sodium benzoate and sodium ascorbate support the notion that hemocyte cytotoxic activity is a PO-dependent mechanism. Treatments of he…

Pro-inflammatory alleles play an opposite role in acute myocardial infarction and in longevity

La malattia: dagli sciamani alla medicina di precisione

This book is not only an introductory refocusing of the foundations of Pathology general, but it would also be an excellent guide to intelligently instruct a solid, more advanced and necessary reform of medical curricula. The General Pathology has represented, at the origins and in the phase of greater scientific development of medicine, the space for meeting and integration between the two more advanced experimental applications applied to the study of diseases. A little abandoned in its function of theoretical synthesis from the advent of EBM (evidence based medicine), in the face of the challenges represented from the flow of genomic data and from the expectations of seeing a new persona…

Triggering of Toll-like receptors in the elderly. A pilot study relevant for vaccination

The impaired ability of the elderly to mount an efficient immune response after exposure to microbes or vaccines represents a major challenge in protection against pathogens in ageing. Recently studies have shown that stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), using stimulatory ligands, can enhance vaccine efficacy by a number of mechanisms, including the activation of innate immune cells and the consequent production of inflammatory cytokines.

Analysis of Klotho 1 gene variants in not melanocytic skin cancer

Aim of the study: The incidence of the vast majority of cancers, including melanoma and not melanocytic skin cancer (NMSC) increases with advancing age. However, the mechanism by which aging influences the risk of developing cancer is not fully understood. Whether this is attributable to declines in immunity or other changes, such as changes in the aging microenvironment, remains unclear. Amongst the many proteins implicated in aging is the protein Klotho. Loss of Klotho function results in the early appearance of several pathologies associated with human aging, downregulation of Klotho was found in several cancers, such as pancreatic cancer, HCC, and other tumors. Downregulation of Klotho …

The role of immune response in ageing and longevity. A focus on B cell compartment

The improvement of the quality of life of elderly people is going to become a priority because of the continuous increase in the number of centenarians. This render the studies of the processes involved in ageing of critical importance. Centenarians are a widely accepted model of successful ageing, a complex process which is influenced by several biological, environmental and lifestyle factors, because they have reached the extreme limits of life span overcoming the major age-related diseases. In centenarians model, several aspects have been studied, as inflammation, immune system, genetics and metabolism, to understand the secret of their long survival. It has been proposed that centenaria…

B cells and immunosenescence: a focus on IgG+IgD-CD27- (DN) B cells in aged humans.

Immunosenescence contributes to the decreased ability of the elderly to control infectious diseases, which is also reflected in their generally poor response to new antigens and vaccination. It is known that the T cell branch of the immune system is impaired in the elderly mainly due to expansion of memory/effector cells that renders the immune system less able to respond to new antigens. B lymphocytes are also impaired in the elderly in terms of their response to new antigens. In this paper we review recent work on B cell immunosenescence focusing our attention on memory B cells and a subset of memory B cells (namely IgG(+)IgD(-)CD27(-)) that we have demonstrated is increased in healthy el…

Probiotics and Prebiotics: Health Promotion by Immune Modulation in the Elderly