ABSTRACT
The immunocompetence of 22 subjects aged 85-104 years (mean 90 +/- 1 years) was studied and compared to 21 young subjects aged 19-37 years (mean 30 +/- 1 years). The absolute lymphocyte number and the percentage of T and B lymphocytes in the peripheral blood was similar in the two groups. A marked decrease in phytohemagglutinin response of T-enriched lymphocytes from old subjects was observed. Autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was also profoundly reduced in old subjects. No difference between male and female subjects was observed. The responsiveness of enriched T lymphocytes to allogeneic irradiated non-T cells was only slightly impaired in the old individuals. Non-T cells from old and young subjects functioned equally well as stimulatory cells in allogeneic MLR. The data suggest that an alteration of T lymphocytes with regulatory function and of self-recognition is present in aged humans.
Subject(s)
Aging , Autoantibodies , Immunocompetence , T-Lymphocytes/immunology , Aged , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Female , Humans , Lymphocyte Activation , Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed , Male , Phytohemagglutinins/pharmacology , Rosette FormationABSTRACT
In view of a possible role of genetic factors in the etiology of chronic calcific pancreatitis, we undertook a study of the frequency of HLA antigens in this disease. Sixty-four patients with chronic calcific pancreatitis were typed for the HLA-A, -B and -C loci. Fourteen of these 64 patients (21.9%) were found to have antigen B13 compared to 7.5% of 425 controls. These results have a P value of 0.00059 which remains significant (P = 0.020) even when multiplied by the total number of antigens tested. Sex, alcoholism, age at the clinical onset of the disease, presence of pain, and diabetes had no apparent influence on the distribution of HLA alleles. The significant association between chronic calcific pancreatitis and HLA antigen B13 further supports the role of genetic factors in the etiology of the disease.
Subject(s)
HLA Antigens/immunology , Pancreatitis/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Calcinosis/etiology , Calcinosis/genetics , Calcinosis/immunology , Chronic Disease , Female , HLA-B Antigens , Histocompatibility Testing , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pancreatitis/etiology , Pancreatitis/geneticsABSTRACT
Peripheral blood from 20 healthy subjects of whom 10 were young (15 - 30) and 10 aging (73 - 85) was examined for the proportions of TG lymphocyte population by two different methods TG cells proportions were significantly (P 0.001) increased in aging subjects when compared with the young subjects.
