CPG-ODN+IFN- confer pro- and anti-inflammatory properties to peritoneal macrophages in aged mice

MIRIAM V. LISCOVSKY; ROMINA P. RANOCCHIA; DIEGO O. ALIGNANI; CAROLINA GORLINO; GABRIEL MORÓN; BELKYS A. MALETTO; PISTORESI M.CRISTINA

EXPERIMENTAL GERONTOLOGY

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2010

0531-5565

Aging is accompanied by a disturbance in the homeostasis of the immune system. However, research into the behaviour of macrophages in aging has raised discrepancies about the functional status of these cells in aged mice. In this work, we studied the influence of aging on the macrophage functions by evaluating the pro- and anti-inflammatory parameters of peritoneal macrophages preserved in their natural microenvironment. Resting and inflammatory macrophages from old mice, in the context of their natural milieu, were found to respond in a similar way to macrophages from young animals. In addition, we evaluated the macrophage response to CpG-ODN, a well known Th1 promotor. CpG-ODN plus IFN-γ was able to activate not only nitric oxide to initiate the inflammatory response but also IL-12 in inflammatory peritoneal macrophages from aged mice in the context of their natural milieu. Thus, these peritoneal macrophage functions were maintained during aging. These results, in agreement with own previous observations, show that CpG-ODN is a potentially good adjuvant to use during aging.