Pneumonia In Elderly Patients With Deficiency In Telomerase Activity

The objective of this study was to examine proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin-M and expression of telomerase activity of peripheral blood monocytes from 21 patients with lower respiratory tract infections and 10 volunteers.Pneumonia defined as acute lower respiratory tract infectious (LRTIs) with new, previously unrecorded shadowing on a chest radiograph is association with an appropriate clinical history and physical signs for which no other cause was found. The last months (12.2004-6.2005) we studied 21 subjects (12 men and 9 women) which have been hospitalized for LRTIs. The control (3 men and 7 women) was admitted to Tongji hospital with herniated nucleus pulpous or other minor diseases without the history of malignance, infection, or general administration drugs.The results showed that telomerase activity in resting peripheral lymphocytes of control subjects was detectable at low level, and increased (P<0.001) after stimulation in vitro with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA-M). Telomerase activity of lymphocytes decreased with age in both groups with advancing age. We observed that not only telomerase activity of resting lymphocytes in elderly patients with lower respiratory tract infections (n=21; p<0.001) was decreased compared to that in healthy subjects (n=10; P<0.001), but also the same difference existed among these groups in telomerase activity of activated lymphocytes with PHA-M. PBMCs separated and in vitro stimulated. A commercial telomerase PCR-ELISA kit was used to test telomerase activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Proliferation activity of PBMCs was detected by MTT cell proliferation assay.The decreased telomerase activity of lymphocytes in lower respiratory tract infections elderly patients is present, which may be partly responsible for immune dysfunction in such patients. We can use it to evaluate the immune function of such patients and estimate the prognosis.