Cargando…

Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?

In host–parasite co-evolution, parasites are assumed to have an advantage owing to their shorter generation time. Evolution of pathogens within the lifetime of a host individual is implicated as a strong selective force in the evolution of sex and aging in the host. However, this assumption or its t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Baig, Ulfat, Laxmi, Vidhya, Ojha, Akanksha, Watve, Milind
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer India 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7145937/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32345783
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-0025-x
_version_ 1783520088851218432
author Baig, Ulfat
Laxmi, Vidhya
Ojha, Akanksha
Watve, Milind
author_facet Baig, Ulfat
Laxmi, Vidhya
Ojha, Akanksha
Watve, Milind
author_sort Baig, Ulfat
collection PubMed
description In host–parasite co-evolution, parasites are assumed to have an advantage owing to their shorter generation time. Evolution of pathogens within the lifetime of a host individual is implicated as a strong selective force in the evolution of sex and aging in the host. However, this assumption or its testable predictions have not been examined empirically. We classified infectious bacteria and viruses into those that can have continued long-term existence on the host body (group 1) versus those that have only a short-term interaction during an active infection (group 2). We surveyed the literature for age-specific incidence data about infections from both the groups. The age trends of the two groups show contrasting patterns. The incidence of infections by all group 1 pathogens showed a 2.28- to 28-fold increase in older ages. In group 2, 6 out of the 9 pathogens showed a significant declining trend in incidence with age. In both groups, there was greater mortality or morbidity among the infected in the old-age classes. These patterns are better explained by pathogen evolution than by age-related decline in immunity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s12038-020-0025-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7145937
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Springer India
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-71459372020-04-10 Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists? Baig, Ulfat Laxmi, Vidhya Ojha, Akanksha Watve, Milind J Biosci Article In host–parasite co-evolution, parasites are assumed to have an advantage owing to their shorter generation time. Evolution of pathogens within the lifetime of a host individual is implicated as a strong selective force in the evolution of sex and aging in the host. However, this assumption or its testable predictions have not been examined empirically. We classified infectious bacteria and viruses into those that can have continued long-term existence on the host body (group 1) versus those that have only a short-term interaction during an active infection (group 2). We surveyed the literature for age-specific incidence data about infections from both the groups. The age trends of the two groups show contrasting patterns. The incidence of infections by all group 1 pathogens showed a 2.28- to 28-fold increase in older ages. In group 2, 6 out of the 9 pathogens showed a significant declining trend in incidence with age. In both groups, there was greater mortality or morbidity among the infected in the old-age classes. These patterns are better explained by pathogen evolution than by age-related decline in immunity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s12038-020-0025-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer India 2020-04-10 2020 /pmc/articles/PMC7145937/ /pubmed/32345783 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-0025-x Text en © Indian Academy of Sciences 2020 This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
spellingShingle Article
Baig, Ulfat
Laxmi, Vidhya
Ojha, Akanksha
Watve, Milind
Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
title Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
title_full Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
title_fullStr Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
title_full_unstemmed Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
title_short Geriatric infections: Decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
title_sort geriatric infections: decreased immunity or evolved opportunists?
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7145937/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32345783
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-0025-x
work_keys_str_mv AT baigulfat geriatricinfectionsdecreasedimmunityorevolvedopportunists
AT laxmividhya geriatricinfectionsdecreasedimmunityorevolvedopportunists
AT ojhaakanksha geriatricinfectionsdecreasedimmunityorevolvedopportunists
AT watvemilind geriatricinfectionsdecreasedimmunityorevolvedopportunists