Biology

Adoptive cell transfer

T cell

Immunosenescence

Lymph node

Environmental health

Immunology

FOXP3

Immune system

Senescence

Inflammation

Population

Internal medicine

Medicine

Pathogenesis

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance Aging is a risk factor for heart diseases, and it is also known to impact on several immunological processes. Nevertheless, most studies addressing the cardio-immune cross-talk have focused on juvenile rather than senescent animal models. In the present study, we addressed this gap and found that immunological activity contributes to myocardial aging. By using different lymphocyte-deficient animal models and heterochronic adoptive cell-transfer protocols, our study revealed a pivotal role for CD4 + T cells in mediating spontaneous local inflammation and mild organ dysfunction in aged hearts. These results might shed new light on the emerging field of “immunocardiology” because they reveal that spontaneous heart-directed immune responses arise even in the absence of previous myocardial tissue damage.

Myocardial aging as a T-cell–mediated phenomenon