Limited effect of duration of CMV infection on adaptive immunity and frailty: insights from a 27-year-long longitudinal study
Samson, Leonard Daniel; van den Berg, Sara P. H.; Engelfriet, Peter; Boots, Annemieke M. H.; Hendriks, Marion; de Rond, Lia G. H.; de Zeeuw-Brouwer, Mary-Iene; Verschuren, W. M. Monique; Borghans, Jose A. M.; Buisman, Anne-Marie; van Baarle, Debbie
(2020) Clinical & Translational Immunology (CTI), volume 9, issue 10, pp. 1 - 18
(Article)
Abstract
Objectives: Cytomegalovirus infection is thought to affect the immune system and to impact general health during ageing. Higher CMV-specific antibody levels in the elderly are generally assumed to reflect experienced viral reactivation during life. Furthermore, high levels of terminally differentiated and CMV-specific T cells are hallmarks of CMV infection, which
... read more
are thought to expand over time, a process also referred to as memory inflation. Methods: We studied CMV-specific antibody levels over ~ 27 years in 268 individuals (aged 60–89 years at study endpoint), and to link duration of CMV infection to T-cell numbers, CMV-specific T-cell functions, frailty and cardiovascular disease at study endpoint. Results: In our study, 136/268 individuals were long-term CMV seropositive and 19 seroconverted during follow-up (seroconversion rate: 0.56%/year). CMV-specific antibody levels increased slightly over time. However, we did not find an association between duration of CMV infection and CMV-specific antibody levels at study endpoint. No clear association between duration of CMV infection and the size and function of the memory T-cell pool was observed. Elevated CMV-specific antibody levels were associated with the prevalence of cardiovascular disease but not with frailty. Age at CMV seroconversion was positively associated with CMV-specific antibody levels, memory CD4 + T-cell numbers and frailty. Conclusion: Cytomegalovirus-specific memory T cells develop shortly after CMV seroconversion but do not seem to further increase over time. Age-related effects other than duration of CMV infection seem to contribute to CMV-induced changes in the immune system. Although CMV-specific immunity is not evidently linked to frailty, it tends to associate with higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease.
show less
Download/Full Text
Keywords: CMV-specific antibodies, T-cell response, ageing, cardiovascular disease, cytomegalovirus infection, frailty, General Nursing, Immunology and Allergy, Immunology
ISSN: 2050-0068
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Note: Funding Information: The Doetinchem Cohort Study is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Additional funding for the current study was also provided by the Ministry. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The graphical abstract image was created with BioRender.com. We thank Irina Tcherniaeva, Marjan Bogaard‐van Maurik, Ronald Jacobi and Gerco den Hartog for help with the CMV serology and Petra Vissink for the help with the longitudinal samples of the DCS. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Clinical & Translational Immunology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology, Inc. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
(Peer reviewed)