title: The long-term effects of a kampo medicine, juzentaihoto, on maintenance of antibody titer in elderly people after influenza vaccination.
abstract: We have performed a broad-ranging analysis of the adjuvant effect of a Kampo medicine, juzentaihoto (JTT), on influenza vaccination in a multicenter randomized controlled trial. In this study, the enhancing effect of JTT on antibody titer after influenza vaccination was studied for 28 weeks in elderly people who were in the high-risk group for influenza infection. In total, 91 subjects over 65 years old were recruited from four long-term-care facilities located in Chiba, Gunma, and Toyama prefectures in Japan. Participants were randomly assigned to the JTT and the control groups. Blood samples were taken at 4 weeks before vaccination, at the time of vaccination, and then at 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks after vaccination. The hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers against A/California/7/2009 (H1N1), A/Victoria/210/2009 (H3N2), and B/Brisbane/60/2008 were then manually measured. A significant increase in HI titer against H3N2 was observed at week 8 after vaccination in the JTT group compared with the control group (P = 0.0229), and the HI titer of the JTT group significantly increased from 4 to 24 weeks (P = 0.0468), compared with the control group. In conclusion, our results indicated that JTT increased and prolonged antibody production against A/Victoria/210/2009 (H3N2), in particular, after influenza vaccination.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathogenic Biochemistry, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saiki
authors.affiliation: Division of Kampo Diagnostics, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Kampo Medicine, Hokusei Hospital, Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirozo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Division of Kampo Diagnostics, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inujima
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese-Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Namiki
authors.affiliation: AKIBA Clinic of Traditional Medicine, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raimura
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese Oriental Medicine, Gunma Central & General Hospital, Gunma, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kogure
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese Oriental Medicine, Gunma Central & General Hospital, Gunma, Japan ; Department of Internal Medicine, Ninosawa Hospital, Gunma, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Iizuka Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Tonami Miwa Hospital, Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Department of Kampo Medicine, Bayside Clinic, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese-Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese-Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hikiami
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.affiliation: Division of Kampo Diagnostics, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-0194, Japan.
authors.forename: Naotoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shibahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Japanese-Oriental (Kampo) Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Origasa