Immunosenescence is characterized by an age-related decline in immune system function. Major efforts have been made to identify changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets accompanying immunosenescence in elderly adults. However, the change trends of some lymphocyte subsets with age are still controversial, and populations of advanced ages, such as people in their 80s or 90s, have not yet been thoroughly investigated. To provide further insight, we recruited 957 healthy donors without certain diseases with ages ranging from 20 to 95 years. Peripheral lymphocyte subsets, including T cells, CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, B cells and NK cells, and the CD4/CD8 ratio were measured by flow cytometry. Additionally, regulatory CD4 T cells with inhibitory functions marked by CD3+CD4+CD25hi and the expression of the costimulatory molecule CD28 on CD8 T cells were evaluated. Sex was considered at the same time. The data indicated that in elderly people, peripheral T (p < 0.001), CD4 T (p < 0.001) and B (p < 0.001) lymphocyte subsets decreased, but the NK cell population (p < 0.001) increased. More regulatory CD4 T cells may imply stronger inhibition in the elderly population. The decreased CD28 expression with age in females verified CD28 to be an immunosenescence marker and the sharply decreased CD28 expression after 75 years in males indicated a rapid immunosenescence at the late life span of the male populations. In addition, our study established reference values for peripheral lymphocyte subsets at different age stages in males and females, which are urgently needed for the clinical management and treatment of geriatric diseases.
Keywords: Flow cytometry; Geriatrics; Immunosenescence; Lymphocyte; Reference value.
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