Impact of ageing and a synbiotic on the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination; a randomised controlled trial

• Published in: Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 443 - 451
• Main Authors: Enani, Sumia, Przemska-Kosicka, Agnieszka, Childs, Caroline E., Maidens, Catherine, Dong, Honglin, Conterno, Lorenza, Tuohy, Kieran, Todd, Susan, Gosney, Margot, Yaqoob, Parveen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2018; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Ageing; Aging - immunology; Antibody Formation - drug effects; Antibody Formation - immunology; B-Lymphocytes - drug effects; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Bifidobacterium longum; Bifidobacterium longum - immunology; Double-Blind Method; Female; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; glucooligosaccharides; Glucose; Humans; immune response; Immunity, Cellular - drug effects; Immunity, Cellular - immunology; Influenza; Influenza Vaccines - immunology; Influenza Vaccines - therapeutic use; Influenza, Human - immunology; Influenza, Human - prevention & control; intestinal microorganisms; Lymphocyte; Male; Middle Aged; Oligosaccharides - immunology; Oligosaccharides - therapeutic use; phenotype; Prebiotics; Probiotic; probiotics; randomized clinical trials; risk; Seasons; seroconversion; seroprevalence; Synbiotics - administration & dosage; T-lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes - drug effects; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Vaccination; vaccines; Young Adult; Probiotic; URTI; Ageing; Influenza; Vaccination; Gl-OS; Treg; CIRS; Lymphocyte; CMV; cumulative illness rating scale; gluco-oligosaccharide; regulatory T cells; cytomegalovirus; upper respiratory tract infection
• ISSN: 0261-5614; 1532-1983; 1532-1983
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2017.01.011

Ageing increases risk of respiratory infections and impairs the response to influenza vaccination. Pre- and pro-biotics offer an opportunity to modulate anti-viral defenses and the response to vaccination via alteration of the gut microbiota. This study investigated the effect of a novel probiotic, Bifidobacterium longum bv. infantis CCUG 52486, combined with a prebiotic, gluco-oligosaccharide, on the B and T cell response to seasonal influenza vaccination in young and older subjects . In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 58 young (18–35 y) and 54 older (60–85 y) subjects were supplemented with the synbiotic for 8 weeks. At 4 weeks they were administered with a seasonal influenza vaccine. B and T cell phenotype and responsiveness to in vitro re-stimulation with the vaccine were assessed at baseline, 4, 6 and 8 weeks. B and T cell profiles differed markedly between young and older subjects. Vaccination increased numbers of memory, IgA+ memory, IgG+ memory and total IgG+ B cells in young subjects, but failed to do so in older subjects and did not significantly alter T cell subsets. Seroconversion to the H1N1 subunit in the older subjects was associated with higher post-vaccination numbers of plasma B cells, but seroconversion was less consistently associated with T cell phenotype. B and T cell subsets from both young and older subjects demonstrated a strong antigen-specific recall challenge, and although not influenced by age, responsiveness to the recall challenge was associated with seroconversion. In older subjects, CMV seropositivity was associated with a significantly lower recall response to the vaccine, but the synbiotic did not affect the responsiveness of B or T cells to re-stimulation with influenza vaccine. Antigen-specific B and T cell activation following an in vitro recall challenge with the influenza vaccine was influenced by CMV seropositivity, but not by a synbiotic. Registered under ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier no. NCT01066377.