title: Influence of advanced age on Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination in guinea pigs aerogenically infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Shihoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Komine-Aizawa
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Shin-Ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sugitani
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hayakawa
authors.forename: Saburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines; D007371:Interferon-gamma