It has not been proved formally that changes in T cell function observed with advancing age are completely disconnected from the consequences of modification in the peripheral T cell pool, as events such as proliferation induced by the homeostatic milieu of the ageing organism may contribute to the reduced functional capacity of T cells [11]. A potential driver of age-related learn more changes in the peripheral T cell pool is atrophy of the thymus. A reduction in thymic activity is a feature of ageing in mammals. In humans, fat accumulates in the thymus throughout
life [12] reducing the active areas of thymopoiesis, and this contributes to a decline in the output of T cells. Measurement of this decline in previous studies has produced different views on the kinetics of this process. Some studies indicate an exponential decline [13] with T cell output beginning early in life and estimated to terminate at approximately
75 years of age [14]. Others suggest that the thymus atrophies in a biphasic manner [15] with the initial phase beginning early in life, at least as early as the first year and proceeding at a rate of 3% per year until middle age. Thereafter the rate changes to a constant rate of 1% per year, leading to the estimated total loss of thymic tissue by 105 years of age [16,17]. Recent work shows that the reversal of thymic atrophy is a viable option, but the timing of when selleck Leukocyte receptor tyrosine kinase such a procedure should begin would be critically dependent upon determining the period when thymic output ceases. In order to provide more information about the decrease in thymic output later in life we analysed samples collected from 215 healthy elderly individuals, with ages ranging from 60 to 100 years, and to reduce any bias related to environmental factors and/or lifestyle we obtained samples from participating centres across five European countries
(France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Poland)) [18]. We quantified changes in thymic output using signal-joint T cell receptor excision circles (sjTRECs) per T cells measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), as described previously [19]. Peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected from healthy elderly individuals from participating centres across five European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Poland) [18]. Informed consent was obtained from healthy adult volunteers, with ages ranging from 58–104 years. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated and the samples were stored at −140°C until required for analysis. Frozen PBMC were thawed and an aliquot containing 1 × 105 cells stained with phycoerythrin (PE)-conjugated anti-CD3 (BD Bioscience, Oxford, UK) according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
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