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Slowing the Immunsenescent Process
Posted on:
October 23, 2012
The immune system is extremely important for fighting off infectious agents that could ultimately kill off the living organism. Each day we are faced with a world that could threaten our very existence. Humans are ubiquitously enveloped with microscopic agents that are potentially pathogenic agents. However, most individuals have healthy enough immune systems to fight off the effects of these potentially harmful infectious agents. Our bodies continuously produce aberrant cellular components that could be potentially harmful and life-threatening if it were not for a healthy immune system. We can see how important the immune system is in protecting us against many assaults against our body by witnessing what happens to those who suffer from immuno-compromised conditions such as HIV that can lead them to die from many organisms that would not harm those with healthy immune systems.
As we age, one of the inevitable effects is that our immune system gradually declines. As individuals get older they are more likely to acquire many infections that they are not able to fight. In addition, cancer, one of the leading causes of death, increases in its rate of occurrence as we age. As mentioned above, the production of aberrant cells through mutations happens in all individuals, but as we age, these mutagenic features are more likely to slip past a weakened immune system and become a permanent cellular agent within the body that leads to disease and even death.
Many of these causes of illness have been frequently associated as natural occurrences of age. Although some of these diseases are part of immunosenesence, or the gradual reduction in the efficacy of the immune system to fight disease as we age, this does not mean that there is nothing that can be done to slow the immunsenescent process. Although we are more susceptible to diseases as we age, often many individuals are more susceptible to diseases than they need to be. One area of enhancing the aging immune system is through our diet.
As we age the immune system has been found to demonstrate a more compromised T-cell mediated immunity. However, other areas are also probably being influenced, especially since many vaccines provided to older adults are actually less effective, especially when compared to those who receive them and are younger. Cells normally produce free radicals that are highly reactive molecules, and our bodies also are further insulted by free radicals found in our diets and through our interaction with our environments. These free radicals, because of their high reactivity, attach to many normal proteins within our body, altering their normal biochemistry, and create changes that can ultimately lead to many things normally associated with aging, such as diseases and chronic levels of debilitation.
Free radicals are actually oxidizing agents that can lead to significant levels of disease and breakdown in the important building block proteins of our body. Oxidation in what leads to rust on metals to appear and a similar process can happen within the body as well. Although we cannot eliminate exposure to antioxidants, we can attempt to lessen our exposure to them as well as attempt to find ways to hunt out these scavenger molecules and therefore attenuate their cumulative impact on the person. This in turn can have an impact on the aging process, with the anticipation of slowing down the cumulative oxidative impact, and with it, aging.
A process of glycosylation is a common biochemical process that is created through sugar metabolism. The formation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) that is part of the biochemical glycosylation pathway has been targeted as being a significant contributor to many of the age associated health problems that are found to exist. These end products often are aided in their development by the process of oxidation, subsequently leading to a type of "gunk" buildup that can impair the proper functioning of major organ systems, and create cross-linkages, leading to reduced elasticity and a reduction in the tensile nature of major forms of connective tissue.
Although we are a society that loves to indulge in carbohydrates, excessive intake of carbohydrates, especially those less healthy starches, may also help to contribute to, and accelerate, the formation of problematic glycated end products. In fact, the glycosylation process can create an oxidative or "corrosive" nature to the normal internal nature of the biological organism, leading to pathological changes to occur within the body. Just as metal, when exposed to certain oxidizing agents, will chemically engage in the formation of rust, sugar or carbohydrates appear to be the antecedent agents that help chemically to analogously induce an "internal rust reaction" within the body.
Possibly the most destructive feature of advanced glycation end products is their association with the inflammatory process in the body. It is important for the body to have a normal inflammatory process for proper immunity. However, it appears that the glycosylation process in the body, when enhanced through an improper intake of carbohydrates, lead to an acceleration in the production of advanced glycation end products, producing pro-inflammatory effects in the body that are present when they are not needed. This chronic state of inflammation can lead to serious diseases, especially heart and vascular diseases. These end-products appear to exist in great levels as we age. Again, tempering our intake of carbohydrates, especially starchy forms of carbohydrates, can help control this process.
Foods that are rich in anti-oxidizing properties may also contribute to enhancing the immune system and attenuating some of the effects found to exist through immunosenescence. Quercetin, luteolin, catechins, zinc and selenium are important compounds and minerals that have powerful anti-oxidation properties that may possibly help to prevent cardiovascular issues, cancers, and Alzheimer's disease. Many foods with proanthocyanadins , a class of polyphenols or flavanols, as well as other flavanoids referred to as anthocyanins, which give many fruits and vegetables their bright colors and powerful anti-oxidation effects can have a potentially beneficial impact on the immune system, leading to reducing may of the age-related declines in the immune system's ability to address many disease properties as we age. Caution should be issued at this point. Although research as demonstrated important effects of dietary foods rich in anti-oxidants, much more research still needs to exist before more definitive details in this area can be known, especially regarding how much these antioxidants do impact the immune system and what level of intake is needed to enhance immuno sensitivity and even reverse age-related immunosenescence.
What is known is that diet is a very important contributor to our health and aging process. Furthermore, the knowledge regarding chemical radicals and free radicals has continued to accumulate, especially as they impact the biological organism and the process of disease. It is now well-founded that diet can promote, exacerbate, and may even reverse, disease conditions. Although we have long known that a well-balanced diet is essential for our daily health, less emphasis has be given to diet as being a prominent agent in the overall aging process of the biological organism. However, with our current knowledge of oxidizing agents that can influence health and disease, especially advanced glycation end products, and how these agents can promote chronic inflammation and insult the basic structural and functional existence of our bodies, it behooves us to pay more attention to dietary contributions to the overall aging process.
Although we often think about our diet when it comes to weight loss, health issues, and even in our recreational pursuits toward eating, we frequently do not align it within the category of immuno-enhancement or aging attenuation agents. However, given that the immune system is so essential to our overall health and to the aging process itself, and seeing that it may be dramatically influenced by our type and level of dietary consumption, we may need to start examining our diets in a more assiduous manner. Although we are often looking for many pharmacological miracles that will enhance our health and longevity, many of these miracles may be found not in the pharmacy, but at our neighborhood grocery store and in our choice of foods.
Resources
Aging: T Cells That Survive the Longest May Better Protect Against Infections Such as the Flu (August 3, 2011). Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110801160224.htm.
Antioxidants and Your Immune System: Super Foods for Optimal Health. WebMD.
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/antioxidants-your-immune-system-super-foods-optimal-health.
Aging changes in immunity, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004008.htm.
How Aging Impairs Immune Response (July, 17, 2012). Science Daily, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120717162133.htm.
Uribarri, J., Cai, W., Peppa, M. Goodman, S. Ferrucci, L., Striker, G. & Vlassara, H. (2007).
Circulating Glycotoxins and Dietary Advanced Glycation Endproducts: Two Links to Inflammatory Response, Oxidative Stress, and Aging.J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci (2007) 62(4): 427-433
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