Changes in the B-cell repertoire with age - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

. 2000 Feb 25;18(16):1624-8.

doi: 10.1016/s0264-410x(99)00497-1.

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Review

Changes in the B-cell repertoire with age

M E Weksler. Vaccine. 2000.

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Abstract

Changes in the B-cell repertoire during aging include a shift in antibody specificities from foreign to autologous antigens associated with a decline in the activity of conventional B2 compared to B1 lymphocytes. The age-associated increase in B1 lymphocyte number and activity contribute to the increased serum concentration of autoantibodies and the B-cell clonal expansions that develop with age. Aging is also associated with a decreased diversity of the antibody response reflected in the preferential loss of IgG and high affinity antibodies following immunization with a foreign antigen. Many of these changes can be traced to an impaired capacity of T cells to support isotype switching and somatic mutation in the periphery and the generation of a diverse B-cell repertoire from bone marrow B-cell precursors.

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