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Review
. 2023 Oct 13:4:1234572.
doi: 10.3389/fragi.2023.1234572. eCollection 2023.

Immunosenescence and multiple sclerosis: inflammaging for prognosis and therapeutic consideration

Smathorn Thakolwiboon  1 , Elizabeth A Mills  1 , Jennifer Yang  1 , Jonathan Doty  2 , Martin I Belkin  2 , Thomas Cho  1 , Charles Schultz  1 , Yang Mao-Draayer  1   2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Immunosenescence and multiple sclerosis: inflammaging for prognosis and therapeutic consideration

Smathorn Thakolwiboon et al. Front Aging. .

Abstract

Aging is associated with a progressive decline of innate and adaptive immune responses, called immunosenescence. This phenomenon links to different multiple sclerosis (MS) disease courses among different age groups. While clinical relapse and active demyelination are mainly related to the altered adaptive immunity, including invasion of T- and B-lymphocytes, impairment of innate immune cell (e.g., microglia, astrocyte) function is the main contributor to disability progression and neurodegeneration. Most patients with MS manifest the relapsing-remitting phenotype at a younger age, while progressive phenotypes are mainly seen in older patients. Current disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) primarily targeting adaptive immunity are less efficacious in older patients, suggesting that immunosenescence plays a role in treatment response. This review summarizes the recent immune mechanistic studies regarding immunosenescence in patients with MS and discusses the clinical implications of these findings.

Keywords: immunosenescence; inflammaging; multiple sclerosis; neurodegeneration; neuroinflammation.

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Conflict of interest statement

MB has served as a consultant and/or speaker for Biogen, Sanofi, Genentech, Alexion, Horizon, EMD Serono, Bristol Myers Squibb, and TG Therapeutics. YM-D has served as a consultant and/or received grant support from Acorda, Bayer Pharmaceutical, Biogen Idec, Celgene/Bristol Myers Squibb, EMD Serono, Sanofi-Genzyme, Genentech-Roche, Horizon, Novartis, Questor, Janssen, TG Therapeutics, and Teva Neuroscience. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Influence of multiple sclerosis and physiological aging on immunosenescence. Immune dysfunction that occurs as a result of aging and multiple sclerosis can lead to a variety of physiological responses that can ultimately lead to disability and morbidity. Arrowheads indicate the directionality of the sequence of events.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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