SIGNIFICANCE:
With the growing population of baby boomers, there is a great need to determine the effects of advanced age on the function of the immune system. Recent Advances: It is universally accepted that advanced age is associated with a chronic low-grade inflammatory state that is referred to as inflamm-aging, which alters the function of both immune and nonimmune cells. Mononuclear phagocytes play a central role in both the initiation and resolution of inflammation in multiple organ systems and exhibit marked changes in phenotype and function in response to environmental cues, including the low levels of pro-inflammatory mediators seen in the aged.

CRITICAL ISSUES:
Although we know a great deal about the function of immune cells in young adults and there is a growing body of literature focusing on aging of the adaptive immune system, much less is known about the impact of age on innate immunity and the critical role of the mononuclear phagocytes in this process.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS:
In this article, there is a focus on the tissue-specific monocyte and macrophage subsets and how they are altered in the aged milieu, with the hope that this compilation of observations will spark an expansion of research in the field.