Age dependent differences in the kinetics of γδ T cells after influenza vaccination

PLoS One. 2017 Jul 11;12(7):e0181161. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181161. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Immunosenescence is a hallmark of the aging immune system and is considered the main cause of a reduced vaccine efficacy in the elderly. Although γδ T cells can become activated by recombinant influenza hemagglutinin, their age-related immunocompetence during a virus-induced immune response has so far not been investigated. In this study we evaluate the kinetics of γδ T cells after vaccination with the trivalent 2011/2012 northern hemisphere seasonal influenza vaccine. We applied multi-parametric flow cytometry to a cohort of 21 young (19-30 years) and 23 elderly (53-67 years) healthy individuals. Activated and proliferating γδ T cells, as identified by CD38 and Ki67 expression, were quantified on the days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, and 21. We observed a significantly lower number of activated and proliferating γδ T cells at baseline and following vaccination in elderly as compared to young individuals. The kinetics changes of activated γδ T cells were much stronger in the young, while corresponding changes in the elderly occurred slower. In addition, we observed an association between day 21 HAI titers of influenza A and the frequencies of Ki67+ γδ T cells at day 7 in the young. In conclusion, aging induces alterations of the γδ T cell response that might have negative implications for vaccination efficacy.

MeSH terms

  • ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1 / metabolism
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aging / physiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Influenza Vaccines / immunology*
  • Influenza, Human / immunology*
  • Ki-67 Antigen / metabolism
  • Kinetics
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Influenza Vaccines
  • Ki-67 Antigen
  • ADP-ribosyl Cyclase 1

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the following Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) Gerontosys Program – PRIMAGE. The funding organization had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript and only provided financial support in the form of authors' salaries and/or research materials. Epiontis GmbH provided support in the form of salaries for authors (UB, SO), but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.