In transplantation the risk of acute rejection decreases with recipient age. This is clearly
illustrated in transplantation of a non-vascularised tissue, such as the cornea. In
vascularised transplants, such as kidneys, acute rejection decreases with recipient age, but
the phenomenon is obscured by the fact that chronic allograft nephropathy increases with
age, and is further confounded by increased death from infectious disease and drug-related
causes. The underlying cellular mechanisms responsible for this weakening of rejection are …