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Cytokine Expression and Production Changes in Very Old Age

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Handbook on Immunosenescence

Ageing is associated with various changes in immune parameters, alterations in lymphocyte subsets and cytokine dysregulation (Cossarizza et al. 1997). Cytokines are central to the regulation of the immune-inflammatory response in old age and so perhaps play a pivitol role in ageing and survival. But whether these alterations in cytokine expression and production are the secret of long life or are an indication of underlying disease, even in the apparently healthy, is uncertain. While studies of cytokine gene polymorphisms suggest that certain cytokine genotypes are associated with long life (Rea et al. 2006), cytokine levels have also been associated with various age-related diseases (Forsey et al. 2003). Studies of these parameters in very elderly subjects, i.e., those who have aged successfully, are perhaps the most useful in determining the key to longevity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatric Medicine School of Medicine Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT7 9AB, UK

    Susan E. McNerlan & I. Maeve Rea

  2. School of Medicine Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University, Belfast

    Marilyn Armstrong

  3. Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, USA

    Owen A. Ross

Authors
  1. Susan E. McNerlan
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  2. Marilyn Armstrong
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  3. Owen A. Ross
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  4. I. Maeve Rea
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center on Aging, Department of Medicine, Immunology Graduate Programme, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, 1036 Rue Belvedere, J1H 4C4, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

    Tamas Fulop

  2. Department of Experimental Pathalogy, CIG Interdepartmental Center “L. Galvani” University of Bologna, Via San Giacomo 12, 40126, Bologna, Italy

    Claudio Franceschi

  3. Institute for Health and Life Sciences, 4-6-22 Kohinato, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-0006, Japan

    Katsuiku Hirokawa

  4. ZMF - Zentrum Med. Forschung Abt. Transplant./ Immunologie, University of Tübingen, Waldhörnlestr. 22, 72072, Tübingen, Germany

    Graham Pawelec

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McNerlan, S.E., Armstrong, M., Ross, O.A., Maeve Rea, I. (2009). Cytokine Expression and Production Changes in Very Old Age. In: Fulop, T., Franceschi, C., Hirokawa, K., Pawelec, G. (eds) Handbook on Immunosenescence. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9063-9_40

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