Dietary animal plasma proteins improve the intestinal immune response in senescent mice

Abstract

Increased life expectancy has promoted research on healthy aging. Aging is accompanied by increased non-specific immune activation (inflammaging) which favors the appearance of several disorders. Here, we study whether dietary supplementation with spray-dried animal plasma (SDP), which has been shown to reduce the activation of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) in rodents challenged by S. aureus enterotoxin B (SEB), and can also prevent the effects of aging on immune system homeostasis. We first characterized GALT in a mouse model of accelerated senescence (SAMP8) at different ages (compared to mice resistant to accelerated senescence; SAMR1). Second, we analyzed the SDP effects on GALT response to an SEB challenge in SAMP8 mice. In GALT characterization, aging increased the cell number and the percentage of activated Th lymphocytes in mesenteric lymph nodes and Peyer's patches (all, p < 0.05), as well as the expression of IL-6 and TNF-α in intestinal mucosa (both, p < 0.05). With respect to GALT response to the SEB challenge, young mice showed increased expression of intestinal IL-6 and TNF-α, as well as lymphocyte recruitment and activation (all, p < 0.05). However, the immune response of senescent mice to the SEB challenge was weak, since SEB did not change cell recruitment or the percentage of activated Th lymphocytes. Mice supplemented with SDP showed improved capacity to respond to the SEB challenge, similar to the response of the young mice. These results indicate that senescent mice have an impaired mucosal immune response characterized by unspecific GALT activation and a weak specific immune response. SDP supplementation reduces non-specific basal immune activation, allowing for the generation of specific responses.