title: Mucosal vaccination and immune responses in the elderly.
abstract: To develop a mucosal vaccine strategy for the elderly, we have compared mucosal and systemic immune responses between aged (12-14 months) and young adult (8-12 weeks) mice. Both aged and young mice were immunized weekly with three oral doses of 1 mg of ovalbumin (OVA) and 10 microg of cholera toxin as adjuvant. Although elevated levels of OVA-specific systemic IgG and mucosal IgA Ab responses were seen in young mice, aged mice showed impaired antigen-specific mucosal and systemic immune responses. These results suggest that mucosal immunity is down regulated in aged mice.
authors.affiliation: Immunobiology Vaccine Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. kohtarof@uab.edu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujihashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: McGhee
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D010047:Ovalbumin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D010047:Ovalbumin; D002772:Cholera Toxin; C027538:heat-labile enterotoxin, E coli