FIT to Grow Old - Functionality of the Immune System and Healthy Aging

Aging is commonly associated with reduced functionality of the immune system, resulting in a higher prevalence of infectious disease, auto-immune disease, cancer, and lower efficiency of vaccination. Nutritional strategies are increasingly recognized as a method to improve immune functionality, as several nutrients are shown to exert immunomodulatory properties. However, the large variation between individuals with regard to immune responses asks for more personalized approaches. Therefore, this field of research would benefit from a selection of those individuals with immune dysfunction. It is recently shown that immune functionality is largely dependent on intracellular metabolism, leading to the introduction of the new term 'immune cell fitness' which combines the metabolic and functional status of an immune cell. Within this study, we will determine the immune cell fitness of monocytes from healthy young adults and elderly subjects by measuring and integrating a broad range of metabolic and functional immune parameters into an immune cell fitness score. We aim to identify those individuals with immune dysfunction, the unfit. Furthermore, to identify potential nutritional strategies to improve immune cell fitness, we will study the effects of metabolites and nutrients on the immune cell fitness status of monocytes from elderly subjects.