title: Effectiveness of BCG vaccination to aged mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The tuberculosis (TB) still increases in the number of new cases, which is estimated to approach 10 million in 2010. The number of aged people has been growing all over the world. Ageing is one of risk factors in tuberculosis because of decreased immune responses in aged people. Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) is a sole vaccine currently used for TB, however, the efficacy of BCG in adults is still a matter of debate. Emerging the multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) make us to see the importance of vaccination against TB in new light. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of BCG vaccination in aged mice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Th1 responses, interferon-γ production and interleukin 2, in BCG inoculated aged mice (24-month-old) were comparable to those of young mice (4- to 6-week-old). The protection activity of BCG in aged mice against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was also the same as young mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that vaccination in aged generation is still effective for protection against tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Health Sciences, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, 3-1 Tanabe, Mizuho, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan. ttakii@phar.nagoya-cu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Takemasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takii
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wako
authors.forename: Azusa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Horita
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Ikuya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Saburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Kikuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Onozaki
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