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SARANAC LAKE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Trudeau Institute today announced that faculty member Laura Haynes, Ph.D., was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how aging impacts the immune systems response to influenza infection and vaccination. Entitled Aging and Immunity to Infections, the award is one of the largest program grants funded this year by the NIHs National Institute on Aging, amounting to more than $9 million over a five-year period. The grant further funds Dr. Haynes breakthrough study regarding age-related decline in immune functionality that was just released online in the scientific journal Aging Cell.

Infectious diseases, such as influenza, lead to increased disease and mortality in the elderly. Annually in the United States, influenza causes 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths, 90 percent of which occur in older adults. Additionally, the elderly are more vulnerable to infection because vaccine efficacy is significantly reduced in older populations. While it is well known that the adaptive immune response to influenza infection and immunization declines with aging, the Haynes laboratorys recent studies found that there are additional changes in the immune system that had not been previously appreciated. These newly discovered changes contribute significantly to the age-related decline in immune function.

Earlier research from Dr. Haynes lab has shown that there are age-related declines in the function of immune cells that respond to vaccination. Specifically, immune cells from aged individuals show slower and reduced overall functional responses when compared with cells from younger individuals. They also successfully demonstrated that these changes are intrinsic to the immune cells themselves. That is, even if aged cells are transferred into young hosts, they still exhibit reduced function.

Breakthrough Research in the Immune Response in the Elderly Leads to NIH Grant

Dr. Haynes recent investigation of the factors responsible for the decline in immune response to vaccination in elderly patients has led to a major breakthrough. Their study, led by postdoctoral fellow Julie Lefebvre, was published online on June 11, 2012 in the scientific journal Aging Cell. The study demonstrates that, in addition to intrinsic defects in aged immune cells, there are changes in the aged environment, including secondary lymphoid tissues such as the spleen and lymph nodes. These changes are the result of disorganized expression of molecules that direct immune cell movement. The result is that immune cells in aged individuals are not directed properly, and their response is slower as a result.

This revelation helps explain how aging impacts the immune system and the mechanisms involved. Only when the specific defects are determined can strategies be developed to overcome these defects and develop more effective vaccines for the elderly.

Importantly, this study also demonstrates that one of the main factors responsible for this delay is an age-related change in the molecules that direct the movement of immune cells. Small molecules in the immune system, known as chemokines, are responsible for the proper movement of immune cells during a response to vaccination or infection. Proper movement of the cells is essential for a robust immune response since many immune system cells function via direct cell-to-cell contact with each other. Without this contact, the immune response is much less effective. This is the first time this kind of mechanism has been appreciated in aged individuals.

Future Research Focuses on How Aging Impacts Response to Flu and Infection

With the support of the $9 million multi-year grant from the NIH, the Trudeau research will focus on how aging impacts the immune response to influenza infection and vaccination and then importantly move this research to human trials.

More here:
Trudeau Institute announces $9 Million Translational Research Award

This entry was posted on June 14, 2012 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Immune System. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |