ABSTRACT
Centenarians are the best example of successful aging in humans. This work aimed to understand if immune status is associated with survival in Cuban centenarians. In a previous study, our group enrolled 43 centenarians and evaluated their immune status and functional capacity. 41 out of 43 recruited centenarians received follow-up phone calls, during a period of 2 years. Absolute CD4 + T cell count was higher among survivors, while the frequency of CD8 + CCR7-CD45RA + , CD8 + CD45RA + CD28-, and CD4 + CD28- T cells was higher among non-survivors. We also found that higher frequencies of terminally differentiated T cells were related to a higher risk of death, while centenarians with higher frequencies of T cells were more likely to survive. Surprisingly, neither serum inflammatory markers nor frailty/dependency was associated with survival. Our preliminary study suggests that immuno-senescence markers, but not inflammaging or functional capacity, are associated with survival beyond 100 years in a small group of Cuban centenarians.
Subject(s)
Immunosenescence , Aged, 80 and over , Humans , CD28 Antigens , Centenarians , T-Lymphocytes , Aging , BiomarkersABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Centenarians are considered a model of successful aging. Cuba exhibits one of the oldest populations in Latin America with more than two thousand centenarians. METHODS: This study aimed to evaluate the immune phenotype of forty-three Cuban centenarians, their clinical characteristics such as comorbidities, frailty, body mass index, and some hemochemical parameters. RESULTS: Centenarians had normal body mass indexes, relatively good health status, and 21.95% of them had no comorbidities; 53.6% were classified as frail, and 7% were classified as robust. In addition, 17% of centenarians were independent, and 41.46% were moderately dependent. The seroprevalence against cytomegalovirus was 100%. Concerning pro-inflammatory markers, the majority of them had very low cytokine levels and serum C-reactive protein around the normal limit. We also found the predominance of memory subsets over naive compartments in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Terminally differentiated CD8+CD28- T cells were higher in frail centenarians than in pre-frail, while CD8+CD57+ and CD8+EMRA T cells were higher in moderately and severely dependent individuals than in independent individuals. Severely dependent centenarians had a lower CD4+/CD8+ ratio. CONCLUSION: This study describes for the first time the predominance of memory subsets over naive compartments in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, as well as its relation to frailty and/or dependency in a group of Cuban centenarians. Further studies are needed to continue understanding the natural biological aging mechanism and the relationship between terminally differentiated lymphocytes and inflammaging in the context of extreme longevity.