Immunosenescence

Human immunosenescence contributes to morbidity and mortality in later life. The age-associated increasing incidence of cancer and cardiovascular disease plateaus at around 80 years of age in industrialised countries, but death due to infectious disease continues to increase up to 100 years of age and beyond. Understanding the reasons for age-associated alterations to protective immunity in the elderly would facilitate the development of interventions to reconstitute appropriate immune function, increase responsiveness to vaccination and extend healthspan. The majority of the papers collected in this volume therefore address not only the mechanisms responsible for immune ageing in humans but consider what might be accomplished to redress the erosion of immune competence with age.