AUTHOR=Coelho Monique Macedo , Moreira Felipe Caixeta , Zuccherato Luciana Werneck , Ventura Lucas Haniel de Araújo , Camatta Giovanna Caliman , Starling-Soares Bernardo , Torres Lícia , Durso Danielle Fernandes , Sato Hugo Itaru , da Costa Murilo Soares , Guimarães Henrique Cerqueira , Barbuto Rafael Calvão , Júnior Mauro Lúcio O. , Speziali Elaine , Tupinambas Unaí , Teixeira Santuza Maria Ribeiro , Silveira-Nunes Gabriela , Teixeira-Carvalho Andrea , Maioli Tatiani Uceli , Faria Ana Maria Caetano 

TITLE=Living in endemic area for infectious diseases is associated to differences in immunosenescence and inflammatory signatures

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1547854

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2025.1547854

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=Research on aged individuals from developed countries show that lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, stress, smoking, and sleep quality impact aging. However, other relevant factors may influence aging in less-studied populations, such as Brazilian cohorts. This study aimed to analyze immunosenescence profile of individuals living in an endemic area for several infectious diseases in Brazil. We showed that these individuals exhibited accelerated epigenetic aging and increased production of IL-12p70, IL-17A, and IL-9. Production of inflammatory mediators IL-12p70, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-2, and IL-1ra in individuals with flu-like symptoms and those with COVID-19 was higher among residents in endemic areas than in residents from a control non-endemic area. Furthermore, residents of the endemic area had a more prominent inflammatory profile during viral infection and a different pattern of plasma mediators when compared to residents of a non-endemic area. Our data suggests that these two cohorts had specific immune signatures regardless of the presence or the type of infection at study. Therefore, we demonstrated that there were distinct patterns of immune responses and epigenetic aging depending on the environment the individuals live in. These observations add a layer of diversity to the studies of human aging by including individuals from less represented regions.