Short report
Effectiveness of BCG vaccination to aged mice
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* Corresponding author: Takemasa Takii ttakii@phar.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
1 Department of Molecular Health Sciences, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, 3-1 Tanabe, Mizuho, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan
2 Department of Mechanism of Aging, Institute for Longevity Sciences, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35 Gengo, Morioka, Obu, Aichi 474-8522, Japan
3 Japan BCG Central Laboratory, 3-1-5 Matsuyama, Kiyose, Tokyo 204-0022, Japan
Immunity & Ageing 2010, 7:12 doi:10.1186/1742-4933-7-12
Published: 1 September 2010Abstract
Background
The tuberculosis (TB) still increases in the number of new cases, which is estimated to approach 10 million in 2010. The number of aged people has been growing all over the world. Ageing is one of risk factors in tuberculosis because of decreased immune responses in aged people. Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) is a sole vaccine currently used for TB, however, the efficacy of BCG in adults is still a matter of debate. Emerging the multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB) make us to see the importance of vaccination against TB in new light. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of BCG vaccination in aged mice.
Results
The Th1 responses, interferon-γ production and interleukin 2, in BCG inoculated aged mice (24-month-old) were comparable to those of young mice (4- to 6-week-old). The protection activity of BCG in aged mice against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was also the same as young mice.
Conclusion
These findings suggest that vaccination in aged generation is still effective for protection against tuberculosis.