Aging reduces the primary humoral response and the in vitro cytokine production in mice

Aging is accompanied by a decrease in several physiological functions that make older individuals less responsive to environmental challenges. In the present study, we analyzed the immune response of female BALB/c mice (N = 6) of different ages (from 2 to 96 weeks) and identified significant age-related alterations. Immunization with hapten-protein (trinitrophenyl-bovine serum albumin) conjugates resulted in lower antibody levels in the primary and secondary responses of old mice (72 weeks old). Moreover, young mice (2, 16, and 32 weeks old) maintained specific antibodies in their sera for longer periods after primary immunization than did old mice. However, a secondary challenge efficiently induced memory in old mice, as shown by the increased antibody levels in their sera. The number of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in the spleen increased until 8 weeks of age but there was no change in the CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio with aging. Splenic T cells from old mice that had or had not been immunized were less responsive to concanavalin-A and showed reduced cytokine production compared to young mice (IL-2: 57-127 vs 367-1104 pg/mL, IFN-gamma: 2344-12,836 vs 752-23,106 pg/mL and IL-10: 393-2172 vs 1052869 pg/mL in old and young mice, respectively). These data suggest that there are significant changes in the organization of the immune system throughout life. However, the relevance of these alterations for the functioning of the immune system is unknown.