title: White blood cell telomerase activity and incident respiratory illness among community-dwelling elderly vaccinated against seasonal influenza.
abstract: Immune cell telomerase activity may impact vaccine response in the elderly. Fifty persons aged 60-100 years were tested for post-influenza vaccination telomerase RNA expression (TERT) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells to assess for an association with influenza antibody levels and influenza-like illness or incident respiratory infection (IRI) in the year following vaccination. High rates of seroprotective influenza antibody (> or = 1:40 titers) were observed post-vaccination (86-92% to vaccine viral strains), with no association to TERT. No IRI occurred among persons in the top quartile of TERT expression, whereas the IRI rate was 33% in the lower three quartiles (Kaplan-Meier P=0.028). TERT expression was also IRI significantly higher in those who did not experience IRI than those who did in the follow-up period (0.845 vs. 0.301, P=0.024). These data suggest that telomerase expression may correlate with immune capacity for vaccine response in the elderly and could represent a target for recognizing risk for vaccine failure.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Vaccine Research Group, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. targonski.paul@mayo.edu
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Targonski
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strausbauch
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wettstein
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Poland
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Tangalos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000201:enzymology / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D012313:RNA; C509186:TERT protein, human; D019098:Telomerase