The impact of physical frailty on the response to inactivated influenza vaccine in older adults
Krissy Moehling Geffel, Bo Zhai, William E. Schwarzmann, Uma Chandran, Marianna A. Ortiz, Mary Patricia Nowalk, David A. Nace, Chyongchiou J. Lin, Michael Susick, Min Z. Levine, John F. Alcorn, Richard K. Zimmerman
Abstract
HAI titers. RNA sequencing of PBMCs from Days 0, 3 and 7 was measured in 28 participants and compared using pathway analyses. Frailty was not significantly associated with any HAI outcome in multivariable models. Compared with non-frail participants, frail participants expressed decreased cell proliferation, metabolism, antibody production, and interferon signaling genes. Conversely, frail participants showed elevated gene expression in IL-8 signaling, T-cell exhaustion, and oxidative stress pathways compared with non-frail participants. These results suggest that reduced effectiveness of influenza vaccine among older, frail individuals may be attributed to immunosenescence-related changes in PBMCs that are not reflected in antibody levels.