(Press-News.org) July17, 2012 — (Bronx, NY) — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have uncovered one of the mechanisms by which aging may compromise the ability of the immune system to fight infections and respond to vaccines. The study, conducted in aging mice, shows that administering antioxidants may help reverse this loss of immune function. The findings were published online this month in the journal Cell Reports.
"Aging is known to affect immune function, a phenomenon known as immunosenescence, but how this happens is not clear," said study leader Laura Santambrogio, M.D., Ph.D. , associate professor of pathology and of microbiology & immunology at Einstein. "Our study has uncovered several ways in which aging can worsen the body's overall ability to mount an effective immune response."
All cells generate chemicals called free radicals as a normal part of metabolism. These highly reactive, unstable molecules can readily damage proteins, lipids and other cellular components through oxidation (the reaction between oxygen and substances it comes in contact with). Cells keep "oxidative stress" in check by producing several enzymes that are scavengers of free radicals. But in aging, increased production of free radicals coupled with cells' decreased production of antioxidant enzymes cause a buildup of damaged proteins and other molecules that can be toxic to cells.
The current study is the first to examine whether age-related oxidative stress compromises the function of a type of immune cell called dendritic cells. "Dendritic cells are known as the 'sentinels of the immune system' and alert the rest of the immune system to the presence of microbial invaders," explained Dr. Santambrogio. "When you are exposed to viruses or bacteria, these cells engulf the pathogens and present them to the immune system, saying in effect, 'There's an infection going on, and here is the culprit—go get it.'"
Dr. Santambrogio, in collaboration with Einstein colleagues Fernando Macian-Juan, M.D., Ph.D. , and Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D. , isolated dendritic cells from aging mice and found that oxidation-damaged proteins had accumulated in those cells and had caused harmful effects. For example, oxidatively modified proteins hampered the function of endosomes, the cell's organelle where pathogens are inactivated.
When the mice were injected with a potent antioxidant in the abdominal cavity daily for two weeks, some of the effects of oxidative stress were reversed. This finding has implications for designing vaccines or therapies for humans, especially the elderly, whose weakened immune systems increase their susceptibility to infections and cancer, and reduces vaccine effectiveness. "Many elderly people respond very poorly to vaccination, so perhaps a cycle of therapy with antioxidants before vaccination might improve their immune response to vaccines," Dr. Santambrogio noted.
###
The paper is titled "Age-related Oxidative Stress Compromises Endosomal Proteostasis." In addition to Dr. Santambrogio, Dr. Macian-Juan, associate professor of pathology, and Dr. Cuervo, professor of developmental and molecular biology, of anatomy and structural biology and of medicine , other Einstein contributors were Elvira Cannizzo PhD candidate, Cristina Clement, Ph.D.; Kateryna Morozova, Ph.D.; Rut Valdor, Ph.D.; Susmita Kaushik PhD, Larissa Almeida PhD candidate, Carlo Follo PhD, and Ranjit Sahu, Ph.D.
The study was supported by several grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI48833), the National Institute on Aging (AG031782), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Diseases (DK041918), and a NIH Fogarty Geographic Infectious Diseases Training Grant (D43TW007129).
About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation’s premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2011-2012 academic year, Einstein is home to 724 M.D.; students, 248 Ph.D;. students, 117 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D.; program, and 368 postdoctoral research fellows;. The College of Medicine has 2,522 full time faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates;. In 2011, Einstein received nearly $170 million in awards from the NIH. This includes the funding of major research centers; at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Its partnership with Montefiore Medical Center, the University Hospital and academic medical center for Einstein, advances clinical and translational research to accelerate the pace at which new discoveries become the treatments and therapies that benefit patients. Through its extensive affiliation network involving Montefiore, Jacobi Medical Center) –
Einstein’s founding hospital, and five other hospital systems in the Bronx, Manhattan, Long Island and Brooklyn, Einstein runs one of the largest post-graduate medical training programs in the United States, offering approximately 155 residency programs to more than 2,200 physicians in training. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu; and follow us on Twitter @EinsteinMed. END
Study shows how aging impairs immune response
2012-07-18
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Experimental drug may extend therapeutic window for stroke
2012-07-18
LOS ANGELES — A team led by a physician-scientist at the University of Southern California (USC) has created an experimental drug that reduces brain damage and improves motor skills among stroke-afflicted rodents when given with federally approved clot-busting therapy.
Clinical trials to test the safety of the drug in people are expected to start later this summer.
Stroke, which occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain stops, is the No. 4 cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. According to the American Stroke Association, ...
NASA's TRMM satellite eyeing Tropical Storm Khanun's rainfall
2012-07-18
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is keeping an eye on the rainfall being generated by Tropical Storm Khanun as it moves past Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.
The TRMM satellite had an excellent daytime look at Tropical Storm Khanun near Okinawa in the northwestern Pacific Ocean on July 17, 2012 at 0439 UTC (12:39 a.m. EDT/1:39 p.m. Japan). Khanun had estimated wind speeds of over 40 knots (~46 mph) at the time TRMM passed overhead. The storm was compact but well organized and shows possible eye wall formation. The bulk of the strongest precipitation was ...
NASA watching Tropical Storm Fabio head to southern California
2012-07-18
Southern California's coast is already feeling rough surf from Tropical Storm Fabio, and as the storm draws closer it is expected to bring scattered showers and thunderstorms as well. NASA's Aqua satellite peered into Fabio's clouds to see what power lurks under them, and saw only a small area of heavy rainfall remaining and the cooler waters that Fabio is now moving through.
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Fabio on July 16 at 2135 UTC (5:35 p.m. EDT), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured temperatures of cloud tops and the ...
The electric atmosphere: Plasma is next NASA science target
2012-07-18
Our day-to-day lives exist in what physicists would call an electrically neutral environment. Desks, books, chairs and bodies don't generally carry electricity and they don't stick to magnets. But life on Earth is substantially different from, well, almost everywhere else. Beyond Earth's protective atmosphere and extending all the way through interplanetary space, electrified particles dominate the scene. Indeed, 99% of the universe is made of this electrified gas, known as plasma.
Two giant donuts of this plasma surround Earth, trapped within a region known as the Van ...
ICAP study uses novel incentive to encourage HIV patient care and treatment
2012-07-18
In a new study by ICAP at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, researchers are assessing a novel approach to encourage newly diagnosed HIV positive people to seek care and adhere to HIV treatment. The unique study in the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) gives people who test HIV positive a coupon for a gift card to claim after they complete clinic visits and laboratory tests. Patients who adhere to HIV treatment regularly can decrease the amount of HIV in their blood, leading to viral suppression. Study participants who achieve viral suppression also receive ...
Doctors and rheumatoid arthritis patients differ on perception of disease activity
2012-07-18
Researchers from Austria have determined that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their doctors differ on perception of RA disease activity. The study now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and published by Wiley, reports that RA patients cite joint pain as the reason for their perception of a change in their disease activity. Rheumatologists, however, stressed joint swelling as the major determinant for their perception of change in RA disease activity.
RA is a systemic rheumatic disease that causes inflammation, ...
Sugar-sweetened drinks are not replacing milk in kid's diets
2012-07-18
Philadelphia, PA, July 18, 2012 – National data indicate that milk consumption has declined among children while consumption of sweetened beverages of low nutritional quality has more than doubled. Although this suggests that sugar-sweetened beverages may have replaced more nutritious drinks in children's diets, a new study suggests that in fact changes in children's milk consumption are not significantly related to changes in their consumption of sodas and flavored fruit drinks over time. The results are published online today in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition ...
Lowering the national ozone standard would significantly reduce mortality and morbidity
2012-07-18
Establishing a more stringent ozone standard in the U.S. would significantly reduce ozone-related premature mortality and morbidity, according to a new study published online July 18 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
"Abundant evidence links exposure to ozone with adverse health effects, including impaired pulmonary function, asthma exacerbations, increased hospital and emergency room visits, and increased mortality, yet the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 75ppb is often exceeded," said lead author Jesse Berman, a PhD candidate at Johns ...
Developing policy on moving threatened species called 'a grand challenge for conservation'
2012-07-18
Managed relocation—the act of purposely relocating a threatened species, population, or genotype to an area that is foreign to its natural history—is a controversial response to the threat of extinction resulting from climate change. An article in the August 2012 issue of BioScience by Mark W. Schwartz and his colleagues reports on the findings of the Managed Relocation Working Group, an interdisciplinary group of scientists, researchers, and policymakers whose goals were to examine the conditions that might justify the use of managed relocation and to assess the research ...
Hepatitis C may increase deaths from both liver-related and other diseases
2012-07-18
[EMBARGOED FOR JULY 18, 2012] In a long-term study of people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), researchers found increased deaths from both liver-related and non-liver related diseases in patients with active infections who had not cleared their infection.
The study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases and available online, found increased mortality in patients with chronic HCV infection—that is, with detectable levels of HCV genetic material, or RNA, in their blood—suggesting that chronic HCV infections, even in people who have no symptoms, can lead ...