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Evidence of Aberration of T‐cell Subsets in Aged Individuals
Author(s) -
ABE T.,
MORIMOTO C.,
TOGUCHI T.,
KIYOTAKI M.,
HOMMA M.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1981.tb00121.x
Subject(s) - pokeweed mitogen , phytohaemagglutinin , concanavalin a , biology , immunology , suppressor , t cell , antigen , endocrinology , thymocyte , lymphocyte , medicine , immune system , biochemistry , in vitro , gene
In the present study, T‐cell subsets from aged individuals were examined by using anti‐BAT (brain‐associated thymocyte antigen) serum. Anti‐BAT serum was raised against the human fetal brain at 28 weeks of gestation. After absorption with AB erythrocytes, B‐cell lines, and leukaemic cells, anti‐BAT serum was T cell‐specific but unreactive to normal B cells. The ability of anti‐BAT serum‐treated lymphocytes from aged individuals to respond to concanavalin A, phytohaemagglutinin, and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) was unaltered even at a high concentration. In PWM‐stimulated Ig synthesis, T lymphocytes lacking the anti‐BAT serum‐reactive T‐cell subset enhanced the PWM‐stimulated Ig synthesis of autologous B lymphocytes from young individuals. The Con A‐induced suppressor function of lymphocytes from aged individuals was not significantly abolished by treatment with anti‐BAT serum and complement. In the autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction, the decrease in response was minimal when responder cells from aged individuals were treated with anti‐BAT serum even at a high concentration. It is concluded that the T‐cell subset with suppressor function is defective in aged individuals.