Immune reactivity during aging. II. Analysis of the cellular mechanisms involved in the deficient antibody response in old mice.

Analysis was made of the cellular basis of decline in the antibody immune response with advancing age. Employing the cell transfer system, it was found that spleen cells of aged mice have a limited capacity to react to SRBC when transferred into young irradiated recipients. Partial reconstitution was achieved when thymus cells from young untreated donors were applied together with the spleen cells, suggesting that deficiency in T helper cell function is responsible in part for the limited response. Similar studies using the T helper-independent antigen PVP also resulted in low levels of antibodies in the irradiated recipients. Treatment of the spleen cells with anti-theta serum before transfer did not lead to an increased response. Hence, it is suggested that the reduced response is related to limited function in the B cell compartment, and not to function of T suppressor cells. Transfer of bone marrow cells from aged into young irradiated recipients indicated that cells capable of differentiation into antibody-producing cells are available during aging. It is thus maintained that the defect at the B cell level is of a developmental nature.