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Ramasubramanian R, Kim JW, Guan W, Meier HC, Crimmins E, Faul J, Thyagarajan B. Cohabitation as a determinant of adaptive and innate immune cell profiles: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study. Brain Behav Immun Health 2023; 33:100676. [PMID: 37663036 PMCID: PMC10474123 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Non-genetic factors are important but poorly understood determinants of immune profiles. Age and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection remain two well documented non-genetic determinants of the immune profile. Recently, one study identified cohabitation in the same household as an important determinant of immune profiles. Methods We used immunophenotyping data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to evaluate the association between cohabitation and the adaptive (subsets of T-cells, B-cells) and innate immune profiles (subsets of monocytes, natural killer cells and neutrophils). We compared adaptive and innate immune cell profiles using immunophenotyping data from 1184 same-household pairs (cohabitating partners) to 1184 non-household pairs to evaluate the association between cohabitation and adaptive immune cell profiles. We used data from 1737 same-household pairs and 1737 non-household pairs to evaluate the association between cohabitation and innate cell profiles. Household and non-household pairs were matched on age (±2years), educational background and race/ethnicity to minimize confounding due to these factors. The adaptive immune cells and innate immune cell profiles were compressed to two coordinates using multidimensional scaling (MDS). The Euclidean distances between same-household pairs were compared to the distances between non-household pairs for the adaptive and innate cell profiles separately using two sample independent t-tests. We also performed additional adjustment for age and BMI differences, CMV serostatus and smoking concordance/discordance status among household members. Results For adaptive immune cell profiles, the mean Euclidean distance between same-household pairs was 4% lower than the non-household pairs (p = 0.03). When stratified by concordance for CMV serostatus among household pairs, the Euclidean distance was significantly lower by 8% in the same-household pairs as compared to non-household pairs among those who were discordant for CMV serostatus (p = 0.01) and among same-household pairs who were CMV seronegative (p = 0.02) after covariate adjustment. The mean Euclidian distance between same-household pairs was also 8% lower than non-household pairs for the innate immune cell profiles (p-value <0.0001) and this difference remained consistent across all strata of CMV infection. Discussion This study confirms that cohabitation is associated with similarity in immune cell profiles. The differential effects of cohabitation on the adaptive and innate immune profiles suggest that further studies into the common environmental factors that influence individual immune cell subsets need to be evaluated in greater detail.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jae Won Kim
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Weihua Guan
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Helen C.S. Meier
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Eileen Crimmins
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jessica Faul
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Seshadri G, Vivek S, Prizment A, Crimmins EM, Klopack ET, Faul J, Guan W, Meier HCS, Thyagarajan B. Immune cells are associated with mortality: the Health and Retirement Study. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1280144. [PMID: 37928548 PMCID: PMC10623116 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1280144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Age-related immunosenescence is characterized by changes in immune cell subsets and is associated with mortality. However, since immunosenescence is associated with other concurrent age-related changes such as inflammation and multi-organ dysfunction, it is unclear whether the association between age-related immunosenescence and mortality is independent of other concurrent age-related changes. To address these limitations, we evaluated the independent association between immune cell subsets and mortality after adjustment for age-related inflammation and biologic age. Methods Data for this study was obtained from the 2016 interview of the Health and Retirement Study (N=6802). Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between 25 immune cell subsets (11 T-cell subsets, 4 B-cell subsets, 3 monocyte subsets, 3 natural killer cell subsets, 3 dendritic cell subsets, and neutrophils) and 4-year mortality adjusting for covariates such as the Klemera-Doubal algorithm biological age, chronological age, gender, race/ethnicity, BMI, smoking status, comorbidity index, CMV seropositivity, and inflammatory latent variable comprising C-reactive protein, and 4 cytokines (interleukin-10, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, interleukin-6, and soluble tumor necrosis factor). Results Four hundred and seventy-six participants died during the study period with an overall median follow up time of 2.5 years. After controlling for covariates and adjustment for sample-weights, total T cells [HR: 0.86, p=0.004], NK CD56LO cells [HR: 0.88, p=0.005], and neutrophils [HR: 1.22, p=0.004] were significantly associated with mortality. Conclusions These findings support the idea that an aging immune system is associated with short-term mortality independent of age-related inflammation or other age-related measures of physiological dysfunction. If replicated in other external cohorts, these findings could identify novel targets for both monitoring and intervention to reduce the age-related mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gokul Seshadri
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Sithara Vivek
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Anna Prizment
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Eileen M. Crimmins
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Eric T. Klopack
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jessica Faul
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Weihua Guan
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Helen C. S. Meier
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
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Vivek S, Crimmins EM, Prizment AE, Meier HCS, Ramasubramanian R, Barcelo H, Faul J, Thyagarajan B. Age-related Differences in T-cell Subsets and Markers of Subclinical Inflammation in Aging Are Independently Associated With Type 2 Diabetes in the Health and Retirement Study. Can J Diabetes 2023; 47:594-602.e6. [PMID: 37269981 PMCID: PMC10592537 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2023.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Age-related changes in adaptive immunity and subclinical inflammation are both important risk factors for diabetes in older adults. We evaluated the independent association between T-cell subsets, subclinical inflammation, and diabetes risk in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). METHODS We measured 11 T-cell subsets, 5 pro-inflammatory markers, and 2 anti-inflammatory markers from the 2016 wave of the HRS (baseline). Diabetes/prediabetes status was estimated at the 2016, 2018, and 2020 waves of HRS, based on levels of blood glucose/glycated hemoglobin in plasma or self-reported status. We used survey generalized logit models to evaluate the cross-sectional associations and Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate longitudinal associations. RESULTS Among 8,540 participants (56 to 107 years of age), 27.6% had prevalent type 2 diabetes and 31.1% had prediabetes in the 2016 survey. After adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, obesity, smoking, comorbidity index, and cytomegalovirus seropositivity, individuals with type 2 diabetes had lower naive T cells and higher memory and terminal effector T cells as compared with normoglycemic individuals. Among 3,230 normoglycemic participants in the 2016 survey, the incidence of diabetes was 1.8% over 4 years of follow-up. The baseline percentage of CD4+ effector memory T cells was associated with a lower risk of incident diabetes (hazard ratio [HR]=0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.49 to 0.80, p=0.0003) after adjustment for covariates. Baseline level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) was associated with risk of incident diabetes (HR=1.52, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.97, p=0.002). The associations between age-related changes in CD4+ effector memory T cells and risk of incident diabetes remained unchanged after adjustment for subclinical inflammation, although adjusting for CD4+ effector memory T cells nullified the association between IL-6 and incident diabetes. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that the baseline percentage of CD4+ effector memory T cells was inversely associated with incident diabetes independent of subclinical inflammation, but CD4+ effector memory T-cell subsets affected the relationship between IL-6 and incident diabetes. Further studies are needed to confirm and investigate mechanisms by which T-cell immunity affects diabetes risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sithara Vivek
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Eileen M Crimmins
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | - Anna E Prizment
- Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Helen C S Meier
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
| | - Ramya Ramasubramanian
- Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Helene Barcelo
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
| | - Jessica Faul
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
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Faul JD, Kim JK, Levine ME, Thyagarajan B, Weir DR, Crimmins EM. Epigenetic-based age acceleration in a representative sample of older Americans: Associations with aging-related morbidity and mortality. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2215840120. [PMID: 36802439 PMCID: PMC9992763 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2215840120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 53.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Biomarkers developed from DNA methylation (DNAm) data are of growing interest as predictors of health outcomes and mortality in older populations. However, it is unknown how epigenetic aging fits within the context of known socioeconomic and behavioral associations with aging-related health outcomes in a large, population-based, and diverse sample. This study uses data from a representative, panel study of US older adults to examine the relationship between DNAm-based age acceleration measures in the prediction of cross-sectional and longitudinal health outcomes and mortality. We examine whether recent improvements to these scores, using principal component (PC)-based measures designed to remove some of the technical noise and unreliability in measurement, improve the predictive capability of these measures. We also examine how well DNAm-based measures perform against well-known predictors of health outcomes such as demographics, SES, and health behaviors. In our sample, age acceleration calculated using "second and third generation clocks," PhenoAge, GrimAge, and DunedinPACE, is consistently a significant predictor of health outcomes including cross-sectional cognitive dysfunction, functional limitations and chronic conditions assessed 2 y after DNAm measurement, and 4-y mortality. PC-based epigenetic age acceleration measures do not significantly change the relationship of DNAm-based age acceleration measures to health outcomes or mortality compared to earlier versions of these measures. While the usefulness of DNAm-based age acceleration as a predictor of later life health outcomes is quite clear, other factors such as demographics, SES, mental health, and health behaviors remain equally, if not more robust, predictors of later life outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica D. Faul
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48104
| | - Jung Ki Kim
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA90089
| | - Morgan E. Levine
- Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT06510
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN55455
| | - David R. Weir
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48104
| | - Eileen M. Crimmins
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA90089
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Dintwe OB, De Rosa SC, Huang Y, Flach BS, Manso B, Carter D, Omar FL, Schwedhelm KV, Yu C, Lu H, Morris D, Kee JJ, Voillet V, Stirewalt M, Hural J, Moodie Z, Frahm N, Cohen KW, McElrath MJ, Andersen-Nissen E. Achieving intracellular cytokine staining assay concordance on two continents to assess HIV vaccine-induced T-cell responses. J Leukoc Biol 2022; 112:1167-1181. [PMID: 35866359 DOI: 10.1002/jlb.5ma0522-668r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) conducts clinical trials on 4 continents in pursuit of a safe and effective HIV vaccine. Cellular immune responses to vaccination that define vaccine immunogenicity and/or immune correlates of protection can be measured using multiparameter intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) assays. The HVTN cellular immunology laboratory, located in Seattle, WA, conducts ICS assays for vaccine trials according to Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP). In 2013, the HVTN established a second GCLP compliant cellular immunology laboratory in Cape Town, South Africa to assess vaccine immunogenicity for HVTN trials conducted on the African continent. To ensure ICS readouts in the 2 laboratories were directly comparable, we conducted concordance testing using PBMC from healthy controls and vaccine trial participants. Despite standardized procedures and instrumentation, shared quality control measures and quality assurance oversight, several factors impacted our ability to obtain close agreement in T-cell responses measured in the 2 laboratories. One of these was the type of fetal bovine serum (FBS) used in the assay, which impacted lymphocyte cell viability and background responses. In addition, the differences in supernatant removal technique also significantly affected our ability to detect positive responses to vaccine antigens. Standardization of these factors allowed us to achieve and maintain ICS assay concordance across the 2 laboratories over multiple years, accelerating our efforts to evaluate HIV vaccines. The insights gained in this process are valuable for assay transfer efforts by groups of investigators that need to directly compare data generated in different laboratories around the globe.
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Affiliation(s)
- One B Dintwe
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA.,Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Stephen C De Rosa
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Yunda Huang
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Britta S Flach
- Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Bryce Manso
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Don Carter
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | - Katharine V Schwedhelm
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Chenchen Yu
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Huiyin Lu
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Daryl Morris
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Jia Jin Kee
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | - Michael Stirewalt
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - John Hural
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Zoe Moodie
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Nicole Frahm
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Kristen W Cohen
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - M Juliana McElrath
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Erica Andersen-Nissen
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), Seattle, Washington, USA.,Cape Town HVTN Immunology Laboratory, Cape Town, South Africa
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Ramasubramanian R, Meier HCS, Vivek S, Klopack E, Crimmins EM, Faul J, Nikolich-Žugich J, Thyagarajan B. Evaluation of T-cell aging-related immune phenotypes in the context of biological aging and multimorbidity in the Health and Retirement Study. Immun Ageing 2022; 19:33. [PMID: 35858901 PMCID: PMC9297609 DOI: 10.1186/s12979-022-00290-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cellular changes in adaptive immune system accompany the process of aging and contribute to an aging-related immune phenotype (ARIP) characterized by decrease in naïve T-cells (TN) and increase in memory T-cells (TM). A population-representative marker of ARIP and its associations with biological aging and age-related chronic conditions have not been studied previously. METHODS We developed two ARIP indicators based on well understood age-related changes in T cell distribution: TN/(TCM (Central Memory) + TEM (Effector Memory) + TEFF (Effector)) (referred as TN/TM) in CD4 + and CD8 + T-cells. We compared them with existing ARIP measures including CD4/CD8 ratio and CD8 + TN cells by evaluating associations with chronological age and the Klemera Doubal measure of biological age (measured in years) using linear regression, multimorbidity using multinomial logistic regression and two-year mortality using logistic regression. RESULTS CD8 + TN and CD8 + TN/TM had the strongest inverse association with chronological age (beta estimates: -3.41 and -3.61 respectively; p-value < 0.0001) after adjustment for sex, race/ethnicity and CMV status. CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN had the strongest inverse association with biological age (β = -0.23; p = 0.003 and β = -0.24; p = 0.004 respectively) after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity and CMV serostatus. CD4/CD8 ratio was not associated with chronological age or biological age. CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN was inversely associated with multimorbidity. For CD4 + TN/TM, people with 2 chronic conditions had an odds ratio of for 0.74 (95%CI: 0.63-0.86 p = 0.0003) compared to those without any chronic conditions while those with 3 chronic conditions had an odds ratio of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.63-0.90; p = 0.003) after adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, CMV serostatus, smoking, and BMI. The results for the CD4 + TN subset were very similar to the associations seen with the CD4 + TN/TM. CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN were both associated with two-year mortality (OR = 0.80 (95% CI: 0.67-0.95; p = 0.01) and 0.81 (0.70-0.94; p = 0.01), respectively). CONCLUSION CD4 + TN/TM and CD4 + TN had a stronger association with biological age, age-related morbidity and mortality compared to other ARIP measures. Future longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the utility of the CD4 + subsets in predicting the risk of aging-related outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramya Ramasubramanian
- Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Helen C S Meier
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Sithara Vivek
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Eric Klopack
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Eileen M Crimmins
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jessica Faul
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Janko Nikolich-Žugich
- Department of Immunobiology and the University of Arizona Center On Aging, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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Thyagarajan B, Faul J, Vivek S, Kim JK, Nikolich-Žugich J, Weir D, Crimmins EM. Age-Related Differences in T-Cell Subsets in a Nationally Representative Sample of People Older Than Age 55: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2022; 77:927-933. [PMID: 34633448 PMCID: PMC9071411 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glab300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Though T-cell immunosenescence is a major risk factor for age-related diseases, susceptibility to infections, and responses to vaccines, differences in T-cell subset counts and representation by age and sex have not been determined for a large sample representative of the national population of the United States. We evaluated the counts of T-cell subsets including total, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells and their naïve (Tn), effector memory (Tem), and effector subsets, in the context of age, sex, and exposure to cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection among 8 848 Health and Retirement Study participants, a nationally representative study of adults older than 55 years. Total T cells (CD3+) and CD4+ cells declined markedly with age; CD8+ T cells declined somewhat less. While CD4+ T cell declines with age occurred for both CMV-seropositive and CMV-seronegative groups, total T cells and CD8+ cells were both substantially higher among the CMV-seropositive group. Numbers of Tn CD4+ and CD8+ cells were strongly and inversely related to age, were better conserved among women, and were independent of CMV seropositivity. By contrast, accumulation of the CD8+ and CD4+ Tem and effector subsets was CMV-associated. This is the first study to provide counts of T-cell subsets by age and sex in a national sample of US adults older than the age of 55 years. Understanding T-cell changes with age and sex is an important first step in determining strategies to reduce its impact on age-related diseases and susceptibility to infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharat Thyagarajan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jessica Faul
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Sithara Vivek
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Jung K Kim
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Janko Nikolich-Žugich
- Department of Immunobiology and the University of Arizona Center on Aging, University of Arizona College of Medicine—Tucson, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - David Weir
- Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Eileen M Crimmins
- Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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