Open AccessInfluence of Advanced Age on Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination in Guinea Pigs Aerogenically Infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Author(s) -
Shihoko KomineAizawa,
Toshio Yamazaki,
Tsuyoshi Yamazaki,
Shin-ichiro Hattori,
Yuji Miyamoto,
Naoki Yamamoto,
Shinji Haga,
Masahiko Sugitani,
Mitsuo Honda,
Satoshi Hayakawa,
Saburo Yamamoto
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical and vaccine immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.649
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1556-6811
pISSN - 1556-679X
DOI - 10.1128/cvi.00190-10
Subject(s) - mycobacterium bovis , vaccination , tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis , elispot , medicine , immunology , bcg vaccine , antigen , immune system , immunity , virology , t cell , pathology
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.