Amazing stuff! Good news, but older news!
"... Since then, with billions of doses given, the shot has surprised scientists with its capabilities beyond preventing tuberculosis. Researchers have found that BCG also helps prevent type 1 diabetes, reduce multiple sclerosis relapse, and treat bladder cancer. Scientists have uncovered how BCG programs the peripheral immune system to induce these effects.
However, the vaccine’s impact on the central nervous system (CNS) and immune cells within it remains poorly understood, despite retrospective studies revealing a link between the vaccine and the brain: People who received BCG for bladder cancer also showed reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Now, in a small clinical trial, researchers found that BCG triggered immune remodeling in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of older adults and reduced AD-related biomarkers. The findings, published in Communications Medicine, suggest that vaccine-induced immune reprogramming could be used as a strategy to target early neurodegeneration. ..."
From the abstract:
"Background
Immune aging may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG), a vaccine known to induce trained immunity, has been linked to reduced Alzheimer’s risk in prior studies. However, whether trained immunity can be observed in the human central nervous system remains unclear. We assessed whether BCG induces trained immunity–like responses in adults with and without Alzheimer’s-related changes.
Methods
We conducted two related one-year, open-label clinical trials in adults aged 55 years or older (n = 12 without Alzheimer’s-related pathology; n = 11 with Alzheimer’s-related pathology) recruited at a single center.
Participants received two intradermal BCG vaccinations one month apart. Protocol-defined objectives included safety, neurocognitive outcomes, and longitudinal immune and Alzheimer’s biomarker changes in blood and cerebrospinal fluid.
Immune responses were assessed using cytokine assays and single-cell profiling. All enrolled participants were included where data were available; longitudinal changes were analyzed using mixed-effects models.
Results
Here we show that BCG induces persistent, trained immunity–like changes in immune cells in cerebrospinal fluid, including enhanced innate responsiveness and associated transcriptional programs.
These responses differ from blood, suggesting compartment-specific immune imprinting.
In participants without Alzheimer’s-related changes, these immune shifts are accompanied by decreased amyloid-β levels in cerebrospinal fluid and increased levels in blood. BCG was well tolerated, with no unexpected safety signals observed.
Conclusions
These findings suggest trained immunity–like responses in the central nervous system that may influence Alzheimer’s-relevant pathways.
This approach may represent an early neurodegenerative intervention strategy, although larger controlled studies are needed to confirm these observations."
Fig. 1: Study design and trained immunity-associated cytokine responses in PBMCs. [Peripheral blood mononuclear cells]
Fig. 2: BCG induces compartment-specific transcriptional training in human monocytes.
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