Division of Clinical Virology, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
J Clin Virol. 2012 Sep;55(1):46-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2012.06.008. Epub 2012 Jul 6.
In the USA, live attenuated varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine is licensed for use in people 50 or older, to reduce the incidence and/or severity of herpes zoster. However, this vaccine is not yet available in Japan, and the immunity profile for VZV in older people has not been investigated in detail in Japan.
The aim of this study was to conduct a detailed survey about the immunity profile for VZV in older people in Japan.
A panel of immunologic tests (skin test, ELISPOT, gpELISA, IAHA and NT) were used to analyze the immunity to VZV in the subjects. And an interview about zoster history was carried out with each of the subjects.
Cellular immunity test (skin test and ELISPOT) results declined with increasing age; on the contrary, humoral immunity test (gpELISA, IAHA and NT) results increased with advancing age. In addition, strongly boosted humoral immunity was found in the subjects with zoster history, however relatively small increase was found in cellular immunity test results.
Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) to VZV decreased and humoral immunity increased with increasing age in this population.
在美国，减毒活水痘带状疱疹病毒（VZV）疫苗被批准用于 50 岁及以上人群，以降低带状疱疹的发病率和/或严重程度。然而，这种疫苗尚未在日本上市，并且尚未在日本详细研究老年人中 VZV 的免疫状况。
本研究旨在对日本老年人中 VZV 的免疫状况进行详细调查。
使用一系列免疫检测（皮肤试验、ELISPOT、gpELISA、IAHA 和 NT）来分析受试者对 VZV 的免疫反应。并对每位受试者进行带状疱疹病史的访谈。
细胞免疫检测（皮肤试验和 ELISPOT）结果随年龄增长而下降；相反，体液免疫检测（gpELISA、IAHA 和 NT）结果随年龄增长而增加。此外，在有带状疱疹病史的受试者中发现了强烈增强的体液免疫，但细胞免疫检测结果的增加相对较小。
在该人群中，VZV 的细胞介导免疫（CMI）随年龄增长而下降，体液免疫随年龄增长而增加。
