Study: Biomarkers Predict Adverse Reactions After Flu Shot

Newly discovered molecular signals can be used to predict vaccine efficacy and the risk of adverse side effects following a flu shot, according to a recent study.

Previous research has suggested that differences in vaccine efficacy could correspond to a patient’s age, but the age at which these changes appear was unknown.

For their study, researchers followed 178 individuals, monitoring their immune responses before and after they were given the swine flu vaccine (Pandemrix), which contains the adjuvant AS03.
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Researchers observed “massive changes” in the molecular and cellular responses of individuals within 24 hours of receiving the vaccine.

“Unexpectedly, this early response was subtly but significantly different in people older than ~35 years,” they noted.

Further, after inspecting a variety of immune system genes, researchers found that participants who reported higher levels of adverse effects were more likely to have a distinct gene expression profile affiliated with the presence of transitional B cells before and after vaccination, including increased levels of a particular B cell related to autoimmune reactions.

The researchers stressed that while the presence of these B cells in certain participants was affiliated with increased risk of adverse events, the vaccine itself did not raise the levels of these B cells.

Further study is needed to confirm and detail the results found within this study, researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Sobolev O, Binda E, O’Farrell S, et al. Adjuvanted influenza-H1N1 vaccination reveals lymphoid signatures of age-dependent early responses and of clinical adverse events. Nature Immunology. 2016 January 7 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1038/ni.3328.