The older we get, the weaker our immune systems tend to
become, leaving us vulnerable to infectious diseases and cancer and eroding our
ability to benefit from vaccination. Now Stanford University School of Medicine
scientists have found that blocking the action of a single protein whose levels
in our immune cells creep steadily upward with age can restore those cells’
response to a vaccine.
This discovery holds important long-term therapeutic
ramifications, said Jorg Goronzy, MD, PhD, professor of rheumatology and
immunology and the senior author of a study published online Sept. 30 in Nature
Medicine. It might someday be possible, he said, to pharmacologically counter
aging’s effects on our immune systems.