Impact of immunosenescence on transplant outcome

Timm Heinbokel1, Karin Hock, Guangxiang Liu

  • 1Transplant Surgery Research Laboratory and Division of Transplant Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Aging affects all compartments of the immune response and has a major impact on transplant outcome and organ quality. Although clinical trials in the aging transplant population remain rare, our current understanding of immunosenescence provides a basis for an age-adapted immunosuppression and organ allocation with the goal to optimize utilization and to improve outcomes in older recipients. From a more general perspective, understanding the mechanisms and consequences of immunosenescence will have a broad impact on immune therapies in and beyond transplantation.

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