Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Aug;11(8):985-94.
doi: 10.1586/erv.12.61.

Understanding the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination in older adults: a systems biology approach

Nathaniel D Lambert  1 , Inna G Ovsyannikova, V Shane Pankratz, Robert M Jacobson, Gregory A Poland
Affiliations
Review

Understanding the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination in older adults: a systems biology approach

Nathaniel D Lambert et al. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2012 Aug.

Abstract

Annual vaccination against seasonal influenza is recommended to decrease disease-related mortality and morbidity. However, one population that responds suboptimally to influenza vaccine is adults over the age of 65 years. The natural aging process is associated with a complex deterioration of multiple components of the host immune system. Research into this phenomenon, known as immunosenescence, has shown that aging alters both the innate and adaptive branches of the immune system. The intricate mechanisms involved in immune response to influenza vaccine, and how these responses are altered with age, have led us to adopt a more encompassing systems biology approach to understand exactly why the response to vaccination diminishes with age. Here, the authors review what changes occur with immunosenescence, and some immunogenetic factors that influence response, and outline the systems biology approach to understand the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination in older adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Systems biology approach to developing an influenza A/H1N1 vaccine-induced immune profile
Multifunction immune and systems analysis over the duration of vaccine response will be used to determine individual immune outcomes, functional pathways and longitudinal immune profiles that will lead to the explanation and prediction of immune response to influenza A/H1N1 vaccine. This will be accomplished using a fusion of traditional measures of humoral, cellular and innate immunity, paired with measures of gene regulation and large-scale analysis of protein response. Immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination will be measured after in vitro stimulation of subject peripheral blood mononuclear cells with live influenza A/California/H1N1 virus. Assays specific to markers of immunosenescence will also be used to measure the influence of age on immune response to vaccine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Poland GA, Kennedy RB, Ovsyannikova IG. Vaccinomics and personalized vaccinology: is science leading us toward a new path of directed vaccine development and discovery? PLoS Pathog. 2011;7(12):e1002344. Directed approach toward vaccine development based on the science of vaccinomics and personalized medicine. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Oberg AL, Kennedy RB, Li P, Ovsyannikova IG, Poland GA. Systems biology approaches to new vaccine development. Curr Opin Immunol. 2011;23(3):436–443. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hope-Simpson RE. The role of season in the epidemiology of influenza. J Hyg (Lond) 1981;86(1):35–47. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shaman J, Pitzer VE, Viboud C, Grenfell BT, Lipsitch M. Absolute humidity and the seasonal onset of influenza in the continental United States. PLoS Biol. 2010;8(2):e1000316. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dowell SF. Seasonality – still confusing. Epidemiol Infect. 2012;140(1):87–90. - PubMed

Websites

    1. US FDA. FDA approves vaccines for the 2011–2012 influenza season. www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm263319.htm.
    1. US FDA. FDA approves a high dose seasonal influenza vaccine specifically intended for people ages 65 and older. www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/2009/ucm195483.htm.
    1. The Human Immunology Project Consortium. www.immuneprofiling.org.

Publication types

Substances