Effects of a nutritional supplement on the immune response and cytokine production in free-living Chilean elderly.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied the intervention named in the title in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Their aim was to study the effects of a special nutritional formula on the immune response and response to influenza and pneumococcal vaccination in elderly subjects.

Why It Was Studied

Immune response is impaired in the elderly.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were older adults, both men and women.

At 4 months of follow-up, subjects were vaccinated against influenza and pneumococcus.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got the intervention named in the title and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Lymphokine production by mononuclear cells (PBMC), lymphocyte subpopulations, and natural killer cell (NK) activity were measured at baseline and 4 months of follow-up (before vaccination).

Antibodies against influenza and pneumococcal antigens and flu-stimulated production of interferon gamma and interleukin-2 by PBMC were measured at 4 and 6 months.

Skin response to 7 recall antigens and body composition were assessed at baseline and at 4 and 12 months.

All infections occurring during the study period were recorded.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Aging, Antibody Formation, Chile, Cytokines, Dietary Supplements, Food, Formulated and Immunity, Innate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2005 (JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.