Does oral polio vaccine at birth affect the size of the thymus?: Observations within a randomized trial

Helle Brander Eriksen; Najaaraq Lund; Sofie Biering-Sørensen; Cizete Correia; Amarildo Barbosa; Andreas Andersen; Peter Aaby; Dorthe L Jeppesen; Christine Stabell Benn

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.03.082

Does oral polio vaccine at birth affect the size of the thymus? Observations within a randomized trial

Helle Brander Eriksen, Najaaraq Lund, Sofie Biering-Sørensen, Cizete Correia, Amarildo Barbosa, Andreas Andersen, Peter Aaby, Dorthe L Jeppesen, Christine Stabell Benn

Department of Clinical Medicine

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that vaccines have an effect on general mortality which goes beyond specific disease protection. Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is widely used in low-income countries, but in observational studies in Guinea-Bissau we observed that not receiving OPV at birth was associated with reduced overall male infant mortality and enhanced immune response to BCG vaccine. We therefore initiated a randomized trial to test the overall effect of OPV at birth (OPV0).

OBJECTIVE: A small thymic gland is a predictor of mortality in high-mortality settings. Within the trial we aimed to test whether no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymic size.

METHODS: In 511 normal birth weight infants who were randomized to receive or not receive OPV0, thymic index and thymus/weight index were measured before randomization and after 2 weeks (N=49), 4 weeks (N=308) or 6 weeks (N=27). The association between OPV0 and the log transformed thymic size indicators were analyzed in ANCOVA models with thymic size at follow-up as the outcome and adjusting for thymic size at enrollment and age at follow-up. Estimates were reported as geometric mean ratios (GMR) with 95% confidence intervals, comparing no-OPV0 to OPV0.

RESULTS: No-OPV0 was not associated with thymic index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.14 (0.99-1.30)), after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.98 (0.93-1.05)) or after 6 weeks (GMR: 1.00 (0.81-1.23)). However, no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymus/weight index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.22 (1.06-1.40)), but the effect was not seen after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.97 (0.92-1.03)) and 6 weeks (GMR: 0.99 (0.82-1.19)). There were no strong sex-differences.

DISCUSSION: Overall there was no effect on thymic size of OPV0 when administered with BCG. The results could indicate that if an effect occurs, it is only within the first weeks after vaccination.

Original language	English
Journal	Vaccine
Volume	32
Issue number	26
Pages (from-to)	3293-3299
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0264-410X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.03.082
Publication status	Published - 30 May 2014

Keywords

Female
Guinea-Bissau
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral
Thymus Gland

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.03.082

Cite this

@article{a8ead571e7424eff9da85345accfdac9,

title = "Does oral polio vaccine at birth affect the size of the thymus?: Observations within a randomized trial",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that vaccines have an effect on general mortality which goes beyond specific disease protection. Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is widely used in low-income countries, but in observational studies in Guinea-Bissau we observed that not receiving OPV at birth was associated with reduced overall male infant mortality and enhanced immune response to BCG vaccine. We therefore initiated a randomized trial to test the overall effect of OPV at birth (OPV0).OBJECTIVE: A small thymic gland is a predictor of mortality in high-mortality settings. Within the trial we aimed to test whether no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymic size.METHODS: In 511 normal birth weight infants who were randomized to receive or not receive OPV0, thymic index and thymus/weight index were measured before randomization and after 2 weeks (N=49), 4 weeks (N=308) or 6 weeks (N=27). The association between OPV0 and the log transformed thymic size indicators were analyzed in ANCOVA models with thymic size at follow-up as the outcome and adjusting for thymic size at enrollment and age at follow-up. Estimates were reported as geometric mean ratios (GMR) with 95% confidence intervals, comparing no-OPV0 to OPV0.RESULTS: No-OPV0 was not associated with thymic index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.14 (0.99-1.30)), after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.98 (0.93-1.05)) or after 6 weeks (GMR: 1.00 (0.81-1.23)). However, no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymus/weight index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.22 (1.06-1.40)), but the effect was not seen after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.97 (0.92-1.03)) and 6 weeks (GMR: 0.99 (0.82-1.19)). There were no strong sex-differences.DISCUSSION: Overall there was no effect on thymic size of OPV0 when administered with BCG. The results could indicate that if an effect occurs, it is only within the first weeks after vaccination.",

keywords = "Female, Guinea-Bissau, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral, Thymus Gland",

author = "Eriksen, {Helle Brander} and Najaaraq Lund and Sofie Biering-S{\o}rensen and Cizete Correia and Amarildo Barbosa and Andreas Andersen and Peter Aaby and Jeppesen, {Dorthe L} and Benn, {Christine Stabell}",

year = "2014",

month = may,

day = "30",

doi = "10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.03.082",

language = "English",

volume = "32",

pages = "3293--3299",

journal = "Vaccine",

issn = "0264-410X",

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number = "26",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does oral polio vaccine at birth affect the size of the thymus?

T2 - Observations within a randomized trial

AU - Eriksen, Helle Brander

AU - Lund, Najaaraq

AU - Biering-Sørensen, Sofie

AU - Correia, Cizete

AU - Barbosa, Amarildo

AU - Andersen, Andreas

AU - Aaby, Peter

AU - Jeppesen, Dorthe L

AU - Benn, Christine Stabell

PY - 2014/5/30

Y1 - 2014/5/30

N2 - BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that vaccines have an effect on general mortality which goes beyond specific disease protection. Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is widely used in low-income countries, but in observational studies in Guinea-Bissau we observed that not receiving OPV at birth was associated with reduced overall male infant mortality and enhanced immune response to BCG vaccine. We therefore initiated a randomized trial to test the overall effect of OPV at birth (OPV0).OBJECTIVE: A small thymic gland is a predictor of mortality in high-mortality settings. Within the trial we aimed to test whether no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymic size.METHODS: In 511 normal birth weight infants who were randomized to receive or not receive OPV0, thymic index and thymus/weight index were measured before randomization and after 2 weeks (N=49), 4 weeks (N=308) or 6 weeks (N=27). The association between OPV0 and the log transformed thymic size indicators were analyzed in ANCOVA models with thymic size at follow-up as the outcome and adjusting for thymic size at enrollment and age at follow-up. Estimates were reported as geometric mean ratios (GMR) with 95% confidence intervals, comparing no-OPV0 to OPV0.RESULTS: No-OPV0 was not associated with thymic index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.14 (0.99-1.30)), after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.98 (0.93-1.05)) or after 6 weeks (GMR: 1.00 (0.81-1.23)). However, no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymus/weight index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.22 (1.06-1.40)), but the effect was not seen after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.97 (0.92-1.03)) and 6 weeks (GMR: 0.99 (0.82-1.19)). There were no strong sex-differences.DISCUSSION: Overall there was no effect on thymic size of OPV0 when administered with BCG. The results could indicate that if an effect occurs, it is only within the first weeks after vaccination.

AB - BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that vaccines have an effect on general mortality which goes beyond specific disease protection. Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is widely used in low-income countries, but in observational studies in Guinea-Bissau we observed that not receiving OPV at birth was associated with reduced overall male infant mortality and enhanced immune response to BCG vaccine. We therefore initiated a randomized trial to test the overall effect of OPV at birth (OPV0).OBJECTIVE: A small thymic gland is a predictor of mortality in high-mortality settings. Within the trial we aimed to test whether no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymic size.METHODS: In 511 normal birth weight infants who were randomized to receive or not receive OPV0, thymic index and thymus/weight index were measured before randomization and after 2 weeks (N=49), 4 weeks (N=308) or 6 weeks (N=27). The association between OPV0 and the log transformed thymic size indicators were analyzed in ANCOVA models with thymic size at follow-up as the outcome and adjusting for thymic size at enrollment and age at follow-up. Estimates were reported as geometric mean ratios (GMR) with 95% confidence intervals, comparing no-OPV0 to OPV0.RESULTS: No-OPV0 was not associated with thymic index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.14 (0.99-1.30)), after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.98 (0.93-1.05)) or after 6 weeks (GMR: 1.00 (0.81-1.23)). However, no-OPV0 was associated with increased thymus/weight index after 2 weeks (GMR: 1.22 (1.06-1.40)), but the effect was not seen after 4 weeks (GMR: 0.97 (0.92-1.03)) and 6 weeks (GMR: 0.99 (0.82-1.19)). There were no strong sex-differences.DISCUSSION: Overall there was no effect on thymic size of OPV0 when administered with BCG. The results could indicate that if an effect occurs, it is only within the first weeks after vaccination.

KW - Female

KW - Guinea-Bissau

KW - Humans

KW - Infant

KW - Infant, Newborn

KW - Male

KW - Poliovirus Vaccine, Oral

KW - Thymus Gland

U2 - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.03.082

DO - 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.03.082

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24726247

SN - 0264-410X

VL - 32

SP - 3293

EP - 3299

JO - Vaccine

JF - Vaccine

IS - 26

ER -