Age and psychological influences on immune responses to trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in the meditation or exercise for preventing acute respiratory infection (MEPARI) trial.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Individual randomized controlled trial
PubMed 24096366 · doi:10.4161/hv.26661
What was done
Healthy adults aged ≥50 years were randomly assigned to exercise training (n=47), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR, n=51), or a waitlist control condition (n=51). Each participant received a trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine after 6 weeks. Blood was drawn prior to and at 3 and 12 weeks after immunization to measure serum influenza antibody, nasal IgA, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell IFNγ and IL-10 concentrations. Optimism, perceived stress, and anxiety were assessed over the course of the study, with seroprotection defined as antibody concentration ≥160 units.
What was found
No differences in vaccine responses were found when comparing MBSR or exercise to control. Individuals achieving seroprotective antibody levels (≥160 units) had higher optimism, less anxiety, and lower perceived stress than nonresponders. Age correlated with influenza antibody responses, but not with IFNγ or IL-10 production. The abstract reports no numerical data, effect sizes, or p-values.
Why it matters
Despite hypotheses that stress-reduction and physical activity enhance immune function in older adults, these MBSR and exercise interventions did not improve influenza vaccine responses.
Limits
The abstract reports no numerical values, confidence intervals, or p-values. The sample size (n=149 across three arms) is modest, and the psychological and age findings are observational correlations rather than intervention-driven effects.
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- contradicts A randomized controlled trial showed that 5 minutes a day for 28 days of meditation produces a significant decrease in inflammation, a more robust immune response to the flu vaccine, and microbiome changes, with effects persisting at a six-month follow-up.