Endocrine System
Endocrine System ( 5 Questions)
A nurse is educating a client who is at risk for developing infections due to aging. The nurse should explain that aging affects the immune system by causing which of the following changes?
Some possible explanations for the answer are:.
• T-cells are a type of white blood cell that help the immune system fight infections by recognizing and destroying foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses and cancer cells.
• Aging affects the immune system by causing several changes in the production, function and diversity of T-cells. These changes include thymic involution, mitochondrial dysfunction, genetic and epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, reduction of the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, naive-memory imbalance, T-cell senescence and lack of effector plasticity.
• Thymic involution is the gradual shrinking of the thymus gland, which is where T-cells mature and learn to distinguish self from non-self. This leads to a decrease in the number and quality of naive T-cells, which are essential for responding to new antigens.
• Mitochondrial dysfunction is the impairment of the energy-producing organelles in the cells, which affects the survival, activation and differentiation of T-cells. Aging causes oxidative stress, DNA damage and reduced autophagy in the mitochondria, which compromise their function and induce apoptosis or cell death.
• Genetic and epigenetic alterations are changes in the DNA sequence or expression of genes that regulate T-cell development, activation and function. Aging causes accumulation of mutations, chromosomal abnormalities and epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and histone acetylation in T-cells, which affect their gene expression and signaling pathways.
• Loss of proteostasis is the disruption of the balance between protein synthesis, folding, trafficking and degradation in the cells, which affects the quality and quantity of proteins involved in T-cell function. Aging causes increased protein misfolding, aggregation and degradation in T-cells, which impair their antigen recognition, cytokine production and cell cycle regulation.
• Reduction of the TCR repertoire is the decrease in the diversity and specificity of the receptors that recognize antigens on the surface of T-cells.
Aging causes clonal expansion of memory T-cells and contraction.
The correct answer is C.
“Your T-cells become less effective and respond slower to antigens.”.
Some possible explanations for the answer are:.
• T-cells are a type of white blood cell that help the immune system fight infections by recognizing and destroying foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses and cancer cells.
• Aging affects the immune system by causing several changes in the production, function and diversity of T-cells. These changes include thymic involution, mitochondrial dysfunction, genetic and epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, reduction of the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, naive-memory imbalance, T-cell senescence and lack of effector plasticity.
• Thymic involution is the gradual shrinking of the thymus gland, which is where T-cells mature and learn to distinguish self from non-self. This leads to a decrease in the number and quality of naive T-cells, which are essential for responding to new antigens.
• Mitochondrial dysfunction is the impairment of the energy-producing organelles in the cells, which affects the survival, activation and differentiation of T-cells. Aging causes oxidative stress, DNA damage and reduced autophagy in the mitochondria, which compromise their function and induce apoptosis or cell death.
• Genetic and epigenetic alterations are changes in the DNA sequence or expression of genes that regulate T-cell development, activation and function. Aging causes accumulation of mutations, chromosomal abnormalities and epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and histone acetylation in T-cells, which affect their gene expression and signaling pathways.
• Loss of proteostasis is the disruption of the balance between protein synthesis, folding, trafficking and degradation in the cells, which affects the quality and quantity of proteins involved in T-cell function. Aging causes increased protein misfolding, aggregation and degradation in T-cells, which impair their antigen recognition, cytokine production and cell cycle regulation.
• Reduction of the TCR repertoire is the decrease in the diversity and specificity of the receptors that recognize antigens on the surface of T-cells.
Aging causes clonal expansion of memory T-cells and contraction.