Echoes of the past: mechanisms of poor vaccine responses due to age-associated inflammation
As we age, our bodies experience ongoing inflammation, which weakens our immune system and makes vaccines less effective. There are many possible explanations for this effect but we do not understand which are the most relevant. Dr. Herati and his team seek to understand how age-related chronic inflammation leads to weakened immunity using vaccination as a tool to study aging. They focus on CD4 T cells which help B cells to create strong, long-lasting antibodies. Their prior studies show that inflammation can be permanently “imprinted” onto the cell’s genetics. To understand inflammation due to aging, they vaccinated adults across the age spectrum with the hepatitis B vaccine. They will measure inflammatory markers in blood samples from this study, then, they will examine the genetic state of CD4 T cells to see how inflammation leads to molecular changes and imprinting. This research will reveal how inflammation disrupts vaccine responses in older adults, potentially leading to better vaccines.
