title: Loss of anti-mycobacterial efficacy in mice over time following vaccination with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin.
abstract: Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most often used vaccine worldwide and sole vaccine against tuberculosis. BCG is protective against severe form of childhood tuberculosis but less or not protective to adult pulmonary tuberculosis. Therefore, improved vaccination strategies and development of new tuberculosis vaccines are urgent demands. For those purposes, appropriate animal models that reflect human are critically useful. However, in animal models, BCG vaccination protects well against subsequent challenge of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study we evaluated the duration of protective efficacy of the BCG vaccination in mice over time and found that efficacy was diminished 40 weeks after vaccination. The aged mice older than 45 weeks are protected sufficiently after the vaccination with BCG, suggesting that loss of its efficacy is not dependent on the age of mice but rather depends on the period from vaccination. The loss of protection occurred in TH1 polarized STAT6 deficient mice despite the maintenance of interferon (IFN)-gamma production activity of lymph node cells and splenic CD4(+) T cells against M. tuberculosis antigens. Our data suggest that the duration from vaccination may explain the variation in BCG efficacy against adult pulmonary tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahimachi, Abeno-ku, Osaka 545-8585, Japan. yuriozeki@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ozeki
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirayama
authors.forename: Takemasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takii
authors.forename: Saburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Sohkichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000276:immunology*; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D050800:STAT6 Transcription Factor / Q000172:deficiency / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001500:BCG Vaccine; D050800:STAT6 Transcription Factor; C494100:Stat6 protein, mouse; D007371:Interferon-gamma