{"id":2000123534,"date":"2026-08-25T12:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000123534"},"modified":"2026-08-25T12:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T10:13:12","slug":"scientists-find-unusual-immune-response-in-people-who-live-beyond-110","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/scientists-find-unusual-immune-response-in-people-who-live-beyond-110\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists find unusual immune response in people who live beyond 110"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Researchers found that supercentenarians, people aged 110 and above, have unusually high levels of a specialised immune cell known as CD4 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or CD4 CTLs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These immune cells can destroy abnormal cells and are involved in the body\u2019s defence against infections and potentially cancerous cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, published in Cell Reports, examined blood samples from 28 people divided into three age groups: adults aged 70 to 99, those aged 100 to 109, and people aged 110 or older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers found that the proportion of CD4 CTLs increased with age. They accounted for about 4% of the relevant T cells among people aged 70 to 99, compared with 9.6% among those aged 100 to 109 and 17.6% among people aged 110 and above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers also found evidence that these immune cells undergo clonal expansion, meaning individual immune cells multiply to produce large numbers of genetically similar cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one participant, a single clone accounted for more than half of all CD4 CTLs detected in the blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the dominant immune-cell sequences were similar to sequences found in people with certain cancers, including lung, breast and liver cancer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, none of the supercentenarians studied had been diagnosed with those cancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists caution that the findings do not prove that CD4 CTLs are responsible for exceptional longevity. The study was relatively small and focused on immune cells in blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers now plan to investigate how these cells behave in different tissues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings offer another clue into the biological mechanisms that may allow some people to remain healthy well beyond 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A new study has found unique immune cells in people who live beyond 110<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People who live to 110 years and beyond may have a distinctive immune system that helps them remain healthy into extreme old age, according to a new study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000123535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000123534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":2000122457,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-12.00.00-PM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 12.00.00 PM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000123535,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/biological-lymphocytes-and-cancer-cell.webp","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/webp","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/biological-lymphocytes-and-cancer-cell.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/biological-lymphocytes-and-cancer-cell.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/biological-lymphocytes-and-cancer-cell.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/biological-lymphocytes-and-cancer-cell.webp","width":1920,"height":1080},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/biological-lymphocytes-and-cancer-cell.webp","width":1920,"height":1080}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000123534"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000123570,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000123534\/revisions\/2000123570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000123535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000123534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000123534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000123534"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000123534"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000123534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}