Gravenstein S, Duthie E H, Miller B A, Roecker E, Drinka P, Prathipati K, Ershler W B
Department of Medicine, William S. Middleton Veteran's Hospital.
J Am Geriatr Soc. 1989 Jan;37(1):1-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1989.tb01561.x.
Influenza remains a major cause of illness and death in elderly people despite current vaccination programs. One factor is an immunization failure rate in the elderly that may be as high as 50%. To test whether administration of thymosin alpha 1 would result in greater antibody production, we administered it (900 micrograms/m2 subcutaneously twice weekly for eight doses) in conjunction with the 1986 trivalent influenza vaccine. Ninety men (65-99 years old, mean age 77.3 years) were randomized double-blind to receive thymosin alpha 1 or placebo by the same schedule; the sera from 85 of these men were acceptable for analysis. The two groups were similar with respect to underlying disease, medications, and age. No toxicity was observed in either group. Antibody response rate was defined as a four-fold rise in antibody titer over 3-6 weeks following vaccination and was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Analysis was performed on treatment groups and subgroups divided by the mean age: the older group consisted of subjects aged 77 years and older, and the younger group those aged from 65-76 years. Baseline and change in absolute antibody levels were compared by t test and using age as a continuous variable by multiple regression analysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
尽管目前有疫苗接种计划，但流感仍是老年人患病和死亡的主要原因。一个因素是老年人的免疫失败率可能高达50%。为了测试注射胸腺肽α1是否会产生更多抗体，我们将其（900微克/平方米，皮下注射，每周两次，共八剂）与1986年三价流感疫苗联合使用。90名男性（65 - 99岁，平均年龄77.3岁）被随机双盲分组，按照相同的时间表接受胸腺肽α1或安慰剂；其中85名男性的血清可用于分析。两组在基础疾病、用药情况和年龄方面相似。两组均未观察到毒性反应。抗体反应率定义为接种疫苗后3 - 6周内抗体滴度升高四倍，并通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）进行测量。对治疗组以及按平均年龄划分的亚组进行分析：年龄较大的组由77岁及以上的受试者组成，年龄较小的组由65 - 76岁的受试者组成。通过t检验比较基线和绝对抗体水平的变化，并将年龄作为连续变量通过多元回归分析进行比较。（摘要截选至250字）
