The DOI matches its Crossref record; 119 of the 119 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An evolutionary perspective on the mechanisms of immunosenescence
Open accessAbstract
There is an accumulating body of evidence that a decline in immune function with age is common to most if not all vertebrates. For instance, age-associated thymic involution seems to occur in all species that possess a thymus, indicating that this process is evolutionary ancient and conserved. The precise mechanisms regulating immunosenescence remain to be resolved, but much of what we do know is consistent with modern evolutionary theory. In this review, we assess our current knowledge from an evolutionary perspective on the occurrence of immunosenescence, we show that life history trade-offs play a key role and we highlight the possible advantages of the age-related decline in thymic function.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“In addition, their number decreases following the involution of primary lymphoid organs, because age-related defects have been observed in their stroma.”
From Immunosenescence and Its Hallmarks: How to Oppose Aging Strategically? A Review of Potential Options for Therapeutic Intervention (2019) · cites this paper as [36]
In the citing paper
“An abrupt contraction is seen in later life.”
From Immunosenescence and Its Hallmarks: How to Oppose Aging Strategically? A Review of Potential Options for Therapeutic Intervention (2019) · cites this paper as [36]
In the citing paper
“Therefore, at the age of 50, T cell production is <10% of its previous peak levels.”
From Immunosenescence and Its Hallmarks: How to Oppose Aging Strategically? A Review of Potential Options for Therapeutic Intervention (2019) · cites this paper as [36]
In the citing paper
“The reduced ability to respond to new antigens is linked to a decreased number of peripheral naïve T and B cells (see last paragraph of this section).”
From Immunosenescence and Its Hallmarks: How to Oppose Aging Strategically? A Review of Potential Options for Therapeutic Intervention (2019) · cites this paper as [36]
Citations
Cites
Inflamm‐aging: An Evolutionary Perspective on Immunosenescence
FRANCESCHI, C., BONAFÈ, M., VALENSIN, S., OLIVIERI, F., DE LUCA, M., OTTAVIANI, E., & DE BENEDICTIS, G. (2000) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2000.tb06651.x · Cited by 5,358
Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence.
Williams, G. C. (1957) · Evolution · doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1957.tb02911.x · Cited by 4,279
The moulding of senescence by natural selection
Hamilton, W. D. O. (1966) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1016/0022-5193(66)90184-6 · Cited by 2,289
Franceschi, C., Capri, M., Monti, D., Giunta, S., Olivieri, F., Sevini, F., Panourgia, M. P., Invidia, L., Celani, L., Scurti, M., et al. (2007) · Mechanisms of Ageing and Development · doi:10.1016/j.mad.2006.11.016 · Cited by 2,087
Kirkwood, T. B. L. (1977) · Nature · doi:10.1038/270301a0 · Cited by 2,007
Pleiotropy, natural selection, and the evolution of senescence
Williams, G. C. (1957) · Evolution · doi:10.2307/2406060 · Cited by 1,912
AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM OF BIOLOGY
(1953) · The Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1953.tb84985.x · Cited by 1,806
Kirkwood, T. B. L., & Austad, S. N. (2000) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35041682 · Cited by 1,774
IMMUNOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF THE THYMUS
MILLER, J. (1961) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(61)90693-6 · Cited by 1,396
Evolution of senescence: late survival sacrificed for reproduction
Kirkwood, T. B. L., & Rose, M. R. (1991) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1991.0028 · Cited by 1,127
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–315 of 315
Zhang, M., Zhao, C., Cheng, Q., Xu, J., Xu, N., Yu, L., & Feng, W. (2023) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.24792313
Zhang, M., Zhao, C., Cheng, Q., Xu, J., Xu, N., Yu, L., & Feng, W. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.24792432
Wu, C., Wei, X., Huang, Z., Zheng, Z., Zhang, W., Chen, J., Hong, H., & Li, W. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26744507
Is Thymic Involution Truly a Deterioration or an Adaptation?
Iwasa, Y., Hayashi, R., Hara, A., & Matsuo, K. (2026) · Bulletin of Mathematical Biology · doi:10.1007/s11538-025-01569-0
Benhaim-Delarbre, M. (2017) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/58b7965dzfdc5z4cf6zb345z2391827f2628
T-cell distribution in the dorsal root ganglion across species, sex, and agePreprint
O'Brien, J. A., Kuttanna, N., Mazhar, K., Moreno, M. M., Arendt-Tranholm, A., Lesnak, J. B., Wilde, M. A., Sadasivuni, S., Patel, P. J., Haberberger, R. V., et al. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.04.30.722027
Cai, X., Zhang, S., Zhao, Z., Lan, T., Mei, L., Dai, Q., & Jin, Y. (2026) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2026.1749859
Yaneva, N. Y. (2026) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2026.1851942
Costaguta, G., Dinatale, B., Araujo, I. L., Savino, W., Álvarez, F., Bottasso, O., Pérez, A. R., González, F. B., & Costaguta, A. C. (2026) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2026.1864634
Kim, J.-S., Lee, K., Cho, Y., Lee, Y. M., Kang, G., & Roh, H. (2026) · Developmental & Comparative Immunology · doi:10.1016/j.dci.2026.105694
The Thymic Microenvironment Shapes Age‐Related Qualitative Changes in the TCR Repertoire
Rowell, J., Yánez, D. C., Ross, S. E., Lau, C., Zhang, E., Monfared, A., Peña, O. A., Chain, B., & Crompton, T. (2026) · Aging Cell · doi:10.1111/acel.70675
The thymus gland is a target and maintainer of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathophysiology
Lemos, J. P., Stockholm, D., Dinatale, B., Chaves, A. S., Pezet, S., Carvalho, V. F., Pérez, A. R., Mendes‐da‐Cruz, D. A., Savino, W., & Smeriglio, P. (2026) · Brain Behavior & Immunity - Health · doi:10.1016/j.bbih.2026.101323
Metagenomic trajectory of gut microbiome in the human lifespan
Rampelli, S. (2014) · AMS Dottorato Institutional Doctoral Theses Repository (University of Bologna) · doi:10.6092/unibo/amsdottorato/6333
Metadata
- Authors
- Shanley, D. P., Aw, D., Manley, N. R., & Palmer, D. B.
- Affiliations
- Newcastle University (GB)
- Royal Veterinary College (GB)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shanley, Daryl P.
- Palmer, Donald B.
- Venue
- Trends in Immunology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 374-381
- ISSN
- 1471-4906 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2045107302
- Cited by
- 315
- References
- 119
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 1.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Trends in Immunology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RVC Research Online (Royal Veterinary College) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Aging › Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
- Keywords
- immunosenescence, thymic involution, aging, immune function decline, life-history trade-offs, evolutionary immunology, thymus, vertebrates
- MeSH terms
- Aging, Animals, Biological Evolution, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Reproduction, Thymus Gland, T-Lymphocyte Subsets
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
