Influence of advanced age on Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination in guinea pigs aerogenically infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only tuberculosis (TB) vaccine currently available, but its efficacy against adult pulmonary TB remains controversial. BCG induces specific immune responses to mycobacterial antigens and may elicit protective immunity against TB. TB remains a major public health problem, especially among the elderly, yet the efficacy of BCG in the elderly is unknown. We investigated the ability of BCG vaccination to prevent TB in young (6-week-old), middle-aged (18-month-old), and old (60-month-old) guinea pigs. BCG-Tokyo vaccination reduced the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv in all three groups. By use of an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay, antigen-specific gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-producing cells were detected in the 60-month-old guinea pigs after a booster vaccination with BCG-Tokyo. Our findings suggest that BCG-Tokyo has a protective effect against tuberculosis infection regardless of age.
Komine-Aizawa
Shihoko
S
Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchi-Kamicho, Itabash-ku, Tokyo, Japan. ashiho@med.nihon-u.ac.jp
Yamazaki
Toshio
T
Yamazaki
Tsuyoshi
T
Hattori
Shin-Ichiro
S
Miyamoto
Yuji
Y
Yamamoto
Naoki
N
Haga
Shinji
S
Sugitani
Masahiko
M
Honda
Mitsuo
M
Hayakawa
Satoshi
S
Yamamoto
Saburo
S
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007117:Immunization, Secondary / Q000379:methods; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000276:immunology*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*
D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines; D007371:Interferon-gamma