Improving Vaccine-Induced Immunity: Can Baseline Predict Outcome?

Abstract

Immune signatures measured at baseline and immediately prior to vaccination may predict the immune response to vaccination. Such pre-vaccine assessment might allow not only population-based, but also more personalized vaccination strategies ('precision vaccination'). If baseline immune signatures are predictive, the underlying mechanism they reflect may also determine vaccination outcome. Thus, baseline signatures might contribute to identifying interventional targets to be modulated prior to vaccination in order to improve vaccination responses. This concept has the potential to transform vaccination strategies and usher in a new approach to improve global health.

Figure 1

Key Figure. Model for Modulating Immune Baseline Status to Modulate Vaccine Responses. For Vaccine A, which could be influenza virus vaccination in young adults [52], an immunomodulator that increases the baseline activity of an immune pathway (blue broken line) could increase a vaccine-induced immune response. For Vaccine B, which could be hepatitis B virus vaccination [11., 12., 13.], an immunomodulator that decreases the baseline activity of a distinct immune pathway (blue broken line) could increase a vaccine-induced antibody response. Note that the targets of the baseline modulation and the immune activity associated with the vaccine response could be completely distinct; this is a simplified illustration and is not meant to indicate that changes induced by baseline modulation would have to occur in the same particular cell or pathway as the immune activity (e.g., antibody or T cell responses).