Supercentenarians, a.k.a. people who live beyond 100, might have their superpowered, anti-cancer-fighting immune systems to thank. According to research published in Cell Reports, people who make it past 100 appear to develop more of a rare type of immune cell that helps fend off cancer and other cellular troubles.
Researchers at Osaka University studied blood samples from 28 Japanese people, ranging from their 70s to more than 110. They found that CD4 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or CD4 CTLs (because I’m not typing that again), accounted for roughly 4 percent of T cells in participants under 100, nearly 10 percent in centenarians, and 17.6 percent in supercentenarians.
CD4 CTLs help coordinate the body’s immune response to infection, damage, or potentially cancerous cells. These cells didn’t appear depleted in the oldest participants despite having dealt with all sorts of biological mayhem and nonsense for a century or more.
A Rare Immune Cell May Help Explain Why Some People Live So Long
These cells seek out potentially dangerous cells and snuff them out, then clone themselves to create even larger populations. This suggests that the immune systems of supercentenarians were adapting to the increasing number of abnormal cells in their bodies, plus the infections and other challenges that arise when you far outlive the average person. They are, in essence, adapting to old age.
Before we start throwing macabre parties where we bathe in kiddie pools filled with the blood of 110-year-olds, keep in mind the study only involved 28 people, and all in Japan, so it’s hard to prove that CD4 CTLs are solely responsible for people who live for exceptionally long times. Other regional factors could be at play.
Researchers also don’t quite know exactly what these cells are attacking or whether having more of them is beneficial or just redundant.
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