Potential Association Between Dietary Fibre and Humoral Response to the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine.

Alissa Cait,Alix Grooby,Elizabeth Forbes-Blom,Jenny Sparks,David O’Sullivan,Olivier Gasser,Audrey Tay,Nick Shortt,Tess Ostapowicz,Irene Braithwaite,Sally D Poppitt,Georgia Wakefield,Mark Weatherall,Angela Jones,Darmiga Thayabaran,Aurélie Gestin,Wayne Young,Jeffry S Tang,Jacqui Ralston,Anna Mooney,Richard Beasley,Katie Gell,Hazel C Poyntz ,Amber Parry‐Strong ,Sarah T C Elliott

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.765528

Abstract

Influenza vaccination is an effective public health measure to reduce the risk of influenza illness, particularly when the vaccine is well matched to circulating strains. Notwithstanding, the efficacy of influenza vaccination varies greatly among vaccinees due to largely unknown immunological determinants, thereby dampening population-wide protection. Here, we report that dietary fibre may play a significant role in humoral vaccine responses. We found dietary fibre intake and the abundance of fibre-fermenting intestinal bacteria to be positively correlated with humoral influenza vaccine-specific immune responses in human vaccinees, albeit without reaching statistical significance. Importantly, this correlation was largely driven by first-time vaccinees; prior influenza vaccination negatively correlated with vaccine immunogenicity. In support of these observations, dietary fibre consumption significantly enhanced humoral influenza vaccine responses in mice, where the effect was mechanistically linked to short-chain fatty acids, the bacterial fermentation product of dietary fibre. Overall, these findings may bear significant importance for emerging infectious agents, such as COVID-19, and associated de novo vaccinations.

Highlights

Vaccination is our best defence against severe illness and death caused by influenza viruses
After conducting ad hoc analyses to assess the impact of dietary fibre intake on TIVspecific humoral immune responses, we identify a correlation between fibre consumption and vaccine responses in individuals who are naïve to previous influenza vaccination
These findings reveal an unappreciated role for a diet rich in fibre in inducing a robust antibody response to seasonal influenza vaccine

Summary

Introduction

Vaccination is our best defence against severe illness and death caused by influenza viruses. Immune responses to seasonal influenza vaccinations vary substantially in efficacy across the general population, leaving some individuals susceptible to infection each season, even after being vaccinated. The reason for this variation is mostly unknown. Compelling animal studies have shown that a disrupted microbiome will impair vaccine-induced antibody responses [3,4,5,6]. Despite this growing body of work, our understanding of whether the microbiome impacts these same immunological processes in humans is surprisingly under-studied. A limited number of clinical studies demonstrate correlations between microbiome features and impaired antibody responses [7,8,9,10], but mechanistic data is lacking

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