Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology
. 1995 May;2(3):272–276. doi: 10.1128/cdli.2.3.272-276.1995

Effect of age on concentrations of serum antibodies to viral, bacterial, and food antigens in elderly Swiss people.

H Brüssow 1, J Sidoti 1, A Blondel-Lubrano 1, Y Borel 1, J P Michel 1, H Dirren 1, B Decarli 1
PMCID: PMC170144  PMID: 7664170

Abstract

Serum antibody concentrations to two viral, five bacterial, and two food antigens were investigated in 307 elderly Swiss subjects, and the hypothesis of whether serum antibody titers decreased with age was tested. The cross-sectional part of the study consisted of 216 unselected consecutive patients hospitalized in one geriatric hospital. The patients were divided into two age groups (65 to 84 and 85 to 102 years old), and their antibody titers were compared. No age-related decreases in antibody titers were observed. The members of the two age groups were well matched for medical diagnosis and nutritional and inflammatory status. The prospective part of the study consisted of 91 healthy elderly subjects living in the community; they were 71 to 76 years old when they were enrolled in the study. Their serum antibody status was measured at the beginning of the study and 4 years later. We observed a significant decrease in diphtheria antitoxin levels and a significant increase in antibody titer to the capsular polysaccharide of Streptococcus pneumoniae. No change in antibody titer to rotavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, lipopolysaccharide of Escherichia coli, C polysaccharide of S. pneumoniae, or the polyribosyl-ribitol phosphate of Haemophilus influenzae was observed. Thus, no signs of B-cell immunosenescence were seen in these two groups of elderly Swiss people.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (181.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brüssow H., Baensch M., Sidoti J. Seroprevalence of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibodies to polysaccharides of Streptococcus pneumoniae in different age groups of Ecuadorian and German children. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Nov;30(11):2765–2771. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.11.2765-2771.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brüssow H., Sidoti J., Freire W. B. Tetanus and diphtheria immunization coverage in Ecuadorian children after a national vaccination campaign. J Infect Dis. 1993 Aug;168(2):479–483. doi: 10.1093/infdis/168.2.479. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brüssow H., Sidoti J., Link H., Hoang Y. K., Barclay D., Dirren H., Freire W. B. Age-specific prevalence of antibody to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in Ecuadorian and German children. J Infect Dis. 1990 Oct;162(4):974–977. doi: 10.1093/infdis/162.4.974. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brüssow H., Sidoti J., Rahim H., Dirren H., Freire W. Infectious gastroenteritis does not act as a triggering mechanism for the synthesis of serum IgG antibody to beta-lactoglobulin. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1991 Nov;13(4):402–408. doi: 10.1097/00005176-199111000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brüssow H., Sidoti J., Rytz A. Antibody response to polyribosyl-ribitol phosphate antigen of Haemophilus influenzae in Ecuadorian and German children. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1994 Jan;1(1):21–25. doi: 10.1128/cdli.1.1.21-25.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brüssow H., Werchau H., Liedtke W., Lerner L., Mietens C., Sidoti J., Sotek J. Prevalence of antibodies to rotavirus in different age-groups of infants in Bochum, West Germany. J Infect Dis. 1988 May;157(5):1014–1022. doi: 10.1093/infdis/157.5.1014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Brüssow H., Werchau H., Sidoti J., Ballo S., Rahim H., Dirren H., Freire W. B. Age-related prevalence of serum antibody to respiratory syncytial virus in Ecuadorian and German children. J Infect Dis. 1991 Mar;163(3):679–680. doi: 10.1093/infdis/163.3.679a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Callard R. E., Basten A. Immune function in aged mice. IV. Loss of T cell and B cell function in thymus-dependent antibody responses. Eur J Immunol. 1978 Aug;8(8):552–558. doi: 10.1002/eji.1830080803. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Chandra R. K. Nutritional regulation of immunity and risk of infection in old age. Immunology. 1989 Jun;67(2):141–147. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Chandra R. K., Puri S. Nutritional support improves antibody response to influenza virus vaccine in the elderly. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Sep 14;291(6497):705–706. doi: 10.1136/bmj.291.6497.705. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Denis F., Mounier M., Hessel L., Michel J. P., Gualde N., Dubois F., Barin F., Goudeau A. Hepatitis-B vaccination in the elderly. J Infect Dis. 1984 Jun;149(6):1019–1019. doi: 10.1093/infdis/149.6.1019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Elias M. M. Distribution and titres of rotavirus antibodies in different age groups. J Hyg (Lond) 1977 Dec;79(3):365–372. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400053201. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Fleming D. M., Cross K. W. Respiratory syncytial virus or influenza? Lancet. 1993 Dec 18;342(8886-8887):1507–1510. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(05)80082-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Goidl E. A., Innes J. B., Weksler M. E. Immunological studies of aging. II. Loss of IgG and high avidity plaque-forming cells and increased suppressor cell activity in aging mice. J Exp Med. 1976 Oct 1;144(4):1037–1048. doi: 10.1084/jem.144.4.1037. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kishimoto S., Tomino S., Mitsuya H., Fujiwara H., Tsuda H. Age-related decline in the in vitro and in vivo syntheses of anti-tetanus toxoid antibody in humans. J Immunol. 1980 Nov;125(5):2347–2352. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Marrie T. J., Lee S. H., Faulkner R. S., Ethier J., Young C. H. Rotavirus infection in a geriatric population. Arch Intern Med. 1982 Feb;142(2):313–316. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. McKearn J. P., Miller G. W., Quintáns J. The immune response in NZB mice of different ages to thymus-dependent and thymus-independent phosphorylcholine antigens. Immunology. 1978 Jun;34(6):1063–1069. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Phair J., Kauffman C. A., Bjornson A., Adams L., Linnemann C., Jr Failure to respond to influenza vaccine in the aged: correlation with B-cell number and function. J Lab Clin Med. 1978 Nov;92(5):822–828. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Ruben F. L., Uhrin M. Specific immunoglobulin-class antibody responses in the elderly before and after 14-valent pneumococcal vaccine. J Infect Dis. 1985 May;151(5):845–849. doi: 10.1093/infdis/151.5.845. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Ryan C. A., Tauxe R. V., Hosek G. W., Wells J. G., Stoesz P. A., McFadden H. W., Jr, Smith P. W., Wright G. F., Blake P. A. Escherichia coli O157:H7 diarrhea in a nursing home: clinical, epidemiological, and pathological findings. J Infect Dis. 1986 Oct;154(4):631–638. doi: 10.1093/infdis/154.4.631. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Saltzman R. L., Peterson P. K. Immunodeficiency of the elderly. Rev Infect Dis. 1987 Nov-Dec;9(6):1127–1139. doi: 10.1093/clinids/9.6.1127. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Shapiro E. D., Clemens J. D. A controlled evaluation of the protective efficacy of pneumococcal vaccine for patients at high risk of serious pneumococcal infections. Ann Intern Med. 1984 Sep;101(3):325–330. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-101-3-325. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Solomonova K., Vizev S. Immunological reactivity of senescent and old people actively immunized with tetanus toxoid. Z Immunitatsforsch Exp Klin Immunol. 1973 Sep;146(1):81–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES