Antibody responses changed over a decade in French adults
Initial blood responses to microbes in lab tests were linked to later infections in a 10-year observational follow-up of 415 adults.
Limit: Only 415 of 1,000 participants returned, with older donors more likely to return
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational study followed 415 adults in France—211 women and 204 men—from an initially healthy cohort recruited at ages 20–69. Researchers compared antibody measurements taken 10 years apart and collected participants’ medical histories through questionnaires.
Antibody responses to pathogens changed widely. Despite a general age-related rise in antibodies against cytomegalovirus, 10.4% of 153 participants initially positive for these antibodies tested negative for them a decade later. Researchers also examined gene activity in initial blood samples exposed in the lab to Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium, and Candida albicans, a fungus. These responses were associated with subsequent infectious disease.
Why it matters
Tracking immune responses as people age may help identify predictors of adverse health outcomes, as the authors suggest.
Caveats
The observational design cannot establish cause and effect, and disease histories came from questionnaires. Only 415 of the original 1,000 participants returned; older donors were more likely to return, and most participants had Western European ancestry.
- Immune response
- Infectious disease
- Subsequent infectious disease
- CMV antibody levels
- CMV serostatus
- Humans
The paper
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Octant Inc.
Nature Communications, May 22, 2026, Open access
