Vaccine Responses in Older Adults Boosted by Drug That Helps Immune Cells Self-Clean
December 16, 2020
One needs to look no further than the COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the point that older adults are in the high-risk category for infectious diseases. With vaccines starting to be rolled out in the United States, so too is hope for the protection of this vulnerable group. While most vaccines are less efficacious in older adults, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underpin this.
A new study shows that autophagy, a process critical for the maintenance of immune memory in mice, is specifically induced in vaccine-induced antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in healthy human volunteers. In addition, a drug that boosts the removal of cellular debris in immune cells, spermidine, may increase the protective effects of vaccines in older adults. The results may lead to new approaches to protect older individuals from viruses such as the one causing the current COVID-19 pandemic
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A drug that boosts the removal of cellular debris in immune cells may increase the protective effects of vaccines in older adults, a study published today in
eLife shows.
The results may lead to new approaches to protect older individuals from viruses such as the one causing the current COVID-19 pandemic and influenza. Older adults are at high risk of being severely affected by infectious diseases, but unfortunately most vaccines in this age group are less efficient than in younger adults, explains lead author Ghada Alsaleh, a postdoctoral researcher at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, UK.
Drug may increase vaccine protection in older adults
A drug that boosts the removal of cellular debris in immune cells may increase the protective effects of vaccines in older adults, a study published today in
eLife shows.
The results may lead to new approaches to protect older individuals from viruses such as the one causing the current COVID-19 pandemic and influenza.
Older adults are at high risk of being severely affected by infectious diseases, but unfortunately most vaccines in this age group are less efficient than in younger adults.
Ghada Alsaleh, Lead Author, Postdoctoral Researcher, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, UK