The increasing aged population poses new challenges to healthcare systems. The elderly frequently suffers from severe infections and end-stage organ disease, which are associated with an age-dependent decline in immune reactivity1, 2. Immunosenescence, defined as the changes in the immune system associated with age, is gathering interest in the scientific and healthcare communities alike.

Immunosenescence is generally related with weaker immune responses, which produce a progressive deterioration in the ability to respond to new stimulants. One might expect the elderly to be less reactive against transplanted organs than younger patients, thus to show better transplant outcomes. It is reasonable to assume that older individuals would be more easily rendered tolerant of transplanted organs3. Paradoxically, experimental studies and clinical data of organ transplantation have shown that the graft is more rapidly rejected in the elderly than in the younger. Thus, the age-related muting of the immune responses does not improve tolerance induction and reduce rejection after cell or organ transplantation. The effects of aging on acute and chronic allograft rejection have been extensively studied4. Many researches showed that the effects of immunosenescence on the induction of tolerance is one of the major factors5.

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