The rise in prevalence of autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons reaches a plateau in centenarians

While autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I interferons (IFN-I) are relatively rare before the age of 65 (<1%), their prevalence reaches 2-3% between 70 and 80 years and >6% in individuals above 80 years in the general population. To assess the prevalence of IFN-I auto-Abs at the extreme end of human lifespan, we performed a multinational study of centenarians from four geographically and ethnically distinct cohorts collected in Denmark (n = 258), Colombia (n = 99), Australia (n = 281), and Japan (n = 300), comprising 938 individuals. Across cohorts, 51/938 centenarians (5.4%) harbored auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-I, ranging from 3.3% (Japan) to 9.1% (Colombia). We found that the prevalence of IFN-I auto-Abs levels off in centenarians compared with individuals ≥80 years from the general population, demonstrating that neutralizing IFN-I auto-Abs are not incompatible with longevity, despite conferring a risk of life-threatening viral infections. Yet, the plateau of their prevalence in centenarians suggests that they may not be beneficial for reaching exceptional longevity and may negatively impact mortality.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Human Immunity
Published
2026-10-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.70962/jhi.20260143
Primary Topic
interferon and immune responses
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

The rise in prevalence of autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons reaches a plateau in centenarians

Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen, Ivan David Lozada‐Martínez, Paul Bastard, Vibeke Sorensen Catts et al.
2 links
Journal of Human Immunity
interferon and immune responses
article

The rise in prevalence of autoantibodies neutralizing type I interferons reaches a plateau in centenarians

Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen, Ivan David Lozada‐Martínez, Paul Bastard, Vibeke Sorensen Catts, Bettina B. Bundgaard, Guillaume Vogt, Kaare Christensen, Satoshi Okada, Nanna Mørk, Aurélie Cobat, Perminder Singh Sachdev, Jean‐Laurent Casanova, Juan‐Manuel Anaya, Marianne Nygaard, Signe Bedsted Clemmensen, Yasumichi Arai, Trine Hyrup Mogensen, Anne Puel, Chiaki Tao, Lisbeth Aagaard Larsen
article en

Abstract

While autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I interferons (IFN-I) are relatively rare before the age of 65 (<1%), their prevalence reaches 2-3% between 70 and 80 years and >6% in individuals above 80 years in the general population. To assess the prevalence of IFN-I auto-Abs at the extreme end of human lifespan, we performed a multinational study of centenarians from four geographically and ethnically distinct cohorts collected in Denmark (n = 258), Colombia (n = 99), Australia (n = 281), and Japan (n = 300), comprising 938 individuals. Across cohorts, 51/938 centenarians (5.4%) harbored auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-I, ranging from 3.3% (Japan) to 9.1% (Colombia). We found that the prevalence of IFN-I auto-Abs levels off in centenarians compared with individuals ≥80 years from the general population, demonstrating that neutralizing IFN-I auto-Abs are not incompatible with longevity, despite conferring a risk of life-threatening viral infections. Yet, the plateau of their prevalence in centenarians suggests that they may not be beneficial for reaching exceptional longevity and may negatively impact mortality.

Journal of Human ImmunityVol. 3(1)
Hiroshima University (JP), Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades (FR), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US), Inserm (FR), University of Southern Denmark (DK), Keio University (JP), Aarhus University (DK), Université Paris Cité (FR), Aarhus University Hospital (DK), UNSW Sydney (AU), Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (FR), University of the Coast (CO), Institut des Maladies Génétiques Imagine (FR), Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (AU), Keio University Human Biology-Microbiome-Quantum Research Center (JP), Université Paris Dauphine-PSL (FR), The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
St. Giles Foundation, Aarhus Universitet, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Fondation du Souffle, Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, Institut des maladies génétiques Imagine, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Keio University, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, Novo Nordisk, Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Universidad de los Andes, Frimodt-Heineke Fonden, Universidad del Rosario, National Institutes of Health, Sundhedsvidenskabelige Fakultet, Aarhus Universitet, National Health and Medical Research Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, JST-Mirai Program
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
interferon and immune responses
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