Dietary wolfberry supplementation enhances protective effect of flu vaccine against influenza infection in aged mice

Seasonal flu vaccine is recommended as the best protection for cancer patients against influenza infection. Recent in silico and experimental data suggest that antibodies elicited with influenza vaccine could activate bradykinin receptor B2-associated signaling pathway, which is also involved in cell proliferation and migration of tumor cells. These results point to an urgent need for the reexamination of safety of influenza vaccine(s) in cancer patients.

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Flu fighters: Flu vaccine administrations in pediatric hematology oncology patients.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2018.36.30_suppl.131 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (30_suppl) ◽

pp. 131-131

Author(s):

Mehgan Beverley ◽

Patricia Lorenz ◽

Joel Kaplan ◽

Nicole Turner

Keyword(s):

Influenza Infection ◽

Target Population ◽

Time Frame ◽

Control Limit ◽

Similar Time ◽

Pediatric Hematology ◽

Flow Maps ◽

Phone Calls ◽

Flu Vaccine ◽

The Impact

131 Background: Influenza is a serious virus that affects millions of people every year. The CDC and AAP recommend all people starting 6 months of age get a yearly flu vaccine, especially the immunocompromised. Children receiving chemotherapy for cancer treatment are at heightened risk of severe influenza infection and resulting complications. (Goossen et al., 2013). Methods: An interdisciplinary team used the Model for Improvement with an aim statement, current and ideal process flow maps, and annotated run charts to monitor the impact of changes. Change ideas were tested via small-cycle PDSAs. Successful strategies included development of a flu form, targeting patients with pre-visit planning and phone calls, and escalation to physician intervention. Results: A p shewhart chart analyzed the percentage of target population receiving vaccines weekly. The goal was to vaccinate 95% of patients with leukemia or neuro-oncology on active chemotherapy who were older than 6 months of age without medical contraindications. At baseline, upper control limit (UCL) was 6%, mean was 2% and lower control limit (LCL) was 0%. After testing changes, the percentage of flu vaccines improved (special cause variation) to UCL 100%, mean 95%, LCL 87%. The goal was met and sustained through the end of 2018 flu season. This QI project also improved flu vaccinations given to all our patients as compared to the 2016/2017 flu season. During the 2016/2017 flu season, 295 flu vaccines were given. During the 2017/2018 flu season, 457 flu vaccines were given in a similar time frame, i.e. an increase of 155%. In addition to improving care delivered to our target population, this work facilitated greater distribution of flu vaccine to all at-risk populations in our clinic. Conclusions: This project shows a comprehensive and effective approach to reducing the risk of a serious health threat for some of our most vulnerable patients. By developing a well-defined process, standardizing messaging, and using data to inform next steps, our team surpassed benchmarks established by some of the best cancer care specialists in the country. The processes established here can be applied widely, offering hope that future flu seasons could be less devastating to vulnerable populations.

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Protective Effect of RNase on Unilateral Nephrectomy-Induced Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction in Aged Mice

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0134307 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. e0134307 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Chan Chen ◽

Jingjing Cai ◽

Shu Zhang ◽

Lu Gan ◽

Yuanlin Dong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protective Effect ◽

Cognitive Dysfunction ◽

Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction ◽

Unilateral Nephrectomy ◽

Aged Mice

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Poly-γ-Glutamic Acid/Alum Adjuvanted pH1N1 Vaccine-Immunized Aged Mice Exhibit a Significant Increase In Vaccine Efficacy With a Decrease in Age-Associated CD8+ T Cell Proportion in Splenocytes

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1035774/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jihyun Yang ◽

Jaemoo Kim ◽

Chaewon Kwak ◽

Haryoung Poo

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

T Cell Activation ◽

Vaccine Efficacy ◽

Cell Activation ◽

The Elderly ◽

Virus Challenge ◽

Aged Mice ◽

Flu Vaccine ◽

Cell Transcriptome ◽

Single Cell Transcriptome

Abstract BackgroundHighly contagious respiratory diseases caused by viral infections are a constantly emerging threat, particularly the elderly with the higher risk of developing serious complications. Vaccines are the best strategy for protection against influenza-related diseases. However, the elderly has lower vaccine efficacy and the age-driven decline of the influenza vaccine efficacy remains unresolved. In this study, we investigates the effect of an adjuvant, poly-γ-glutamic acid and alum (PGA/Alum) on vaccine efficacy in aged mice (18-months) and its mechanism is studied using ovalbumin as a model antigen and a commercial pandemic H1N1 flu vaccine. Antigen trafficking, dendritic cell (DC) activation, and the DC-mediated T cell activation were analyzed via in vivo imaging and flow cytometry. Antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses were evaluated in sera and splenocytes from the vaccinated mice. Also, we analyzed gene expression profiles of splenocytes of vaccinated mice via single-cell transcriptome sequencing and evaluated the protective efficacy against pH1N1 virus challenge.ResultsAged mice had low antigen trafficking and DC activation than younger mice (6-weeks), which was ameliorated by PGA/Alum with increased antigen uptake and DC activation leading to improved antigen-specific IFN-γ+CD8+ T lymphocyte frequencies higher in the vaccinated aged mice, to a similar extent as PGA/Alum adjuvanted vaccine-immunized young mice. The results of single-cell transcriptome sequencing display that PGA/Alum also reduced the proportion of age-associated CD8+ T cell subsets and gene levels of inhibitory regulators in CD8+ T cells, which may play a role in the recovery of CD8+ T cell activation. Finally, PGA/Alum adjuvanted pH1N1 vaccine-immunized aged mice were completely protected (100% survival) compared to aged mice immunized with vaccine only (0% survival) after pH1N1 virus challenge, akin to the efficacy of the vaccinated young mice (100% survival).ConclusionsPGA/Alum adjuvanted pH1N1 vaccine-immunized aged mice showed a significant increase in vaccine efficacy compared to aged mice administered with vaccine only. The enhanced vaccine efficacy by PGA/Alum is associated with significant increases activation of DCs and effector CD8+ T cells and a decrease in age-associated CD8+ T cell proportion of splenocytes. Collectively, PGA/Alum adjuvanted flu vaccine may be a promising vaccine candidate for the elderly.

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