LifeSPAN Dr. Bernard Khor on Aging and Down Syndrome 2022.05.09

Presentation and Conversation on May 9 for the LifeSPAN Good Life Support Meeting: People with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit clinical and cellular features of advanced immune aging, including predisposition to autoimmunity and impaired response to vaccination.

We recently undertook a massive interrogation of the immune architecture of 28 individuals with DS, along with age- and sex-matched controls. We showed for the first time that the immune system of someone with DS resembles that of a person without DS who is up to 17 years older. We also identify some candidate causal mechanisms. These findings have immediate implications for how we can improve clinical care for people with DS and highlight how studying the immune system of people with DS can help improve the health span of people both with and without DS.