Sepsis and Immunosenescence

Sepsis is a runaway inflammatory event resulting from infection, in which the lack of resolution to the inflammatory response leads to organ damage and death. One of the lasting consequences for survivors is a suppression of the immune system's effectiveness, and in today's open access paper researchers draw parallels between this state and the natural aging of the immune system leading to immunosenescence, a loss of the capacity to destroy pathogens and errant cells alike. Aging does make sepsis worse. The immune system is already in a state of chronic inflammation as a result of the damage of aging: pro-inflammatory secretions of senescent cells, molecular debris from dying or stressed cells that immune cells take for evidence of an attack, and so forth. It is thus less resilient, more susceptible to entering a runaway cytokine storm of the sort provoked in sepsis. Further, because the aged immune system is also less capable, immunosenescent, the suppression of its effectiveness following sepsis can be that much worse, and, further, it is less capable of clearing dangerous infectious agents before they can replicate to the point of causing sepsis. Immunosenescence: A Critical Factor Associated With Organ Injury After Sepsis Sepsis is an intricate, heterogeneous, and highly fatal syndrome, which is responsible for life-threatening organ dysfunction due to the immune regulation disorder. The third international consensus definition of sepsis and septic ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs