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Inflamm‐ageing and lifelong antigenic load as major determinants of ageing rate and longevity

Massimo De Martinis, Claudio Franceschi, Daniela Monti, Lia Ginaldi

FEBS Letters · 2005 · ▲ 506 citations

Cellular senescence

Abstract

Immunosenescence is the consequence of the continuous attrition caused by chronic antigenic stress. The most important characteristics of immunosenescence (accumulation of memory and effector T cells, reduction of naive T cells, shrinkage of T cell repertoire, reduction of the immunological space) are compatible with this assumption. Immunosenescence can be taken as proof that the beneficial effects of the immune system, devoted to the neutralization of harmful agents early in life, become detrimental late in life, in a period not foreseen by evolution. This perspective could explain the mechanisms of the ageing process as well as the pathogenesis of age-related diseases.

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Provenance

Source: OpenAlex
DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2005.02.055
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Fetched: 2026-06-02 MST

Cite this

APA

Martinis, M.D., Franceschi, C., Monti, D., & Ginaldi, L. (2005). Inflamm‐ageing and lifelong antigenic load as major determinants of ageing rate and longevity. <em>FEBS Letters</em>. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2005.02.055

Vancouver

Martinis MD, Franceschi C, Monti D, Ginaldi L. Inflamm‐ageing and lifelong antigenic load as major determinants of ageing rate and longevity. FEBS Letters. 2005. doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2005.02.055.

BibTeX

@article{massimo2005Inflam, title = {Inflamm‐ageing and lifelong antigenic load as major determinants of ageing rate and longevity}, author = {Massimo De Martinis and Claudio Franceschi and Daniela Monti and Lia Ginaldi}, journal = {FEBS Letters}, year = {2005}, doi = {10.1016/j.febslet.2005.02.055}, }