A drug was found to increase the effects of vaccine responses in older adults. The drug works by removing cellular debris in immune cells and increasing the protective effects of vaccines in older adults.
"Older adults are at high risk of being severely affected by infectious diseases, but unfortunately most vaccines in this age group are less efficient than in younger adults," explains lead author Ghada Alsaleh, a postdoctoral researcher at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, UK.
A drug that boosts the removal of cellular debris in immune cells may increase the protective effects of vaccines in older adults.
"Our work suggests that boosting autophagy during vaccination may help make vaccines more effective for older people," Alsaleh says.
Findings were published in eLife and shows how these approaches can address the current COVID-19 pandemic and the common influenza.
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"Our findings will inform vaccine trials in which autophagy-boosting agents, such as spermidine, are given in a controlled environment to older participants," concludes senior author Anna Katharina Simon, Professor of Immunology at the University of Oxford. "It will be interesting to see whether these agents can enhance vaccination efficiency and help protect older people from viral infections."
Source: Science Daily
