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Review
. 2024 Oct 22;21(1):73.
doi: 10.1186/s12979-024-00473-w.

Review of evidence linking exposure to environmental stressors and associated alterations in the dynamics of immunosenescence (ISC) with the global increase in multiple sclerosis (MS)

Affiliations
Review

Review of evidence linking exposure to environmental stressors and associated alterations in the dynamics of immunosenescence (ISC) with the global increase in multiple sclerosis (MS)

Christopher Bolton. Immun Ageing. .

Abstract

Historical survey confirms that, over the latter part of the 20th century, autoimmune-based diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), have shown a worldwide increase in incidence and prevalence. Analytical population studies have established that the exponential rise in MS is not solely due to improvements in diagnosis and healthcare but relates to an increase in autoimmune risk factors. Harmful environmental exposures, including non-communicable social determinants of health, anthropogens and indigenous or transmissible microbes, constitute a group of causal determinants that have been closely linked with the global rise in MS cases. Exposure to environmental stressors has profound effects on the adaptive arm of the immune system and, in particular, the associated intrinsic process of immune ageing or immunosenescence (ISC). Stressor-related disturbances to the dynamics of ISC include immune cell-linked untimely or premature (p) alterations and an accelerated replicative (ar) change. A recognised immune-associated feature of MS is pISC and current evidence supports the presence of an arISC during the disease. Moreover, collated data illustrates the immune-associated alterations that characterise pISC and arISC are inducible by environmental stressors strongly implicated in causing duplicate changes in adaptive immune cells during MS. The close relationship between exposure to environmental risk factors and the induction of pISC and arISC during MS offers a valid mechanism through which pro-immunosenescent stressors may act and contribute to the recorded increase in the global rate and number of new cases of the disease. Confirmation of alterations to the dynamics of ISC during MS provides a rational and valuable therapeutic target for the use of senolytic drugs to either prevent accumulation and enhance ablation of less efficient untimely senescent adaptive immune cells or decelerate the dysregulated process of replicative proliferation. A range of senotherapeutics are available including kinase and transcriptase inhibitors, rapalogs, flavanols and genetically-engineered T cells and the use of selective treatments to control emerging and unspecified aspects of pISC and arISC are discussed.

Keywords: Environmental stressors; Immunosenescence; Multiple sclerosis; Premature immunosenescence; Replicative immunosenescence; Senotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Determinants and locations of environmental stressors that comprise the exposome. The immunobiography is determined by the exposome which comprises several categories of environmental stressors. Internal stressors are contained within the microbiome which also accommodates externally-derived transmissible agents that together create the infectome and sub-infectomes. The anthropome and social determinants of health constitute the non-communicable arm of the external stressors. Adaptive immune disruption includes alterations to the dynamics of immune ageing formula image represents the contents of each biome and infectome formula image signifies changes associated with the virome that may proceed independently of dysbiosis

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