University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Cytomegalovirus infection modulates the phenotype and functional profile of the T-cell immune response to mycobacterial antigens in older life

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 17:42 authored by Nadia Terrazzini, Martha Bajwa Joseph, Serena Vita, David Thomas, Helen Smith, Rosanna Vescovini, Paolo Sansoni, Florian KernFlorian Kern
Infection with Cytomegalovirus is associated with accelerated immunosenescence. Expansions of CMV-specific T cell responses have previously been demonstrated to affect the ability of T cells to respond to other infections. Most people above 60years of age display M. tuberculosis-specific immunity because of vaccination, exposure, or both. T-cell responses can be assessed by measuring intracellular IFN-? in vitro after tuberculin stimulation. Here we investigated tuberculin-specific CD4 T-cell responses in independently living healthy older people in the South of England using flow-cytometry. Individuals were investigated for tuberculin and CMV-specific T-cell immunity using in vitro antigen stimulation followed by intracellular staining for IFN-?, TNF-a, IL2, as well as degranulation and CD154 upregulation. We also examined a control group of younger individuals (20-35years of age). There was no significant difference between older and young people in regards to tuberculin responsiveness of CD4 T-cells; however, older people seemed to show more outliers. Increased responsiveness to tuberculin was significantly correlated to CMV responsiveness but not age. In older donors, the memory phenotype of tuberculin-induced T-cells was significantly skewed towards a more terminal differentiation phenotype in CMV-infected compared to uninfected individuals and the degree of skewing correlated quantitatively with the size of the CMV-specific CD4 T-cell response. This is a fundamental advance over previous reports of changes of the tuberculin-specific CD4 T-cell response with CMV serostatus. Our results show that how the immune system responds to CMV has a fundamental impact on the phenotype and function of the immune response to mycobacterial antigens in older life.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Experimental Gerontology

ISSN

05315565

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

54

Page range

94-100

Department affiliated with

  • Clinical and Experimental Medicine Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2014-07-02

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC