Effects of ageing on immune responses in the tuberculin skin test
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effects of ageing on immune responses in the tuberculin skin test
IRAS ID
167195
Contact name
Mahdad Noursadeghi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Unicersity College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Data protection registration, Z6364106/2014/12/53
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
As people get older, changes in the immune system lead to more frequent infectious diseases and less benefit from vaccination. The tuberculin skin testing (TST) provides a strategy to test human immune responses and has previously been used to show that the normal inflammation caused by this test is diminished in the elderly. Immune responses to the TST are made up of thousands of components or molecules, which can now be measured individually. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of how and why the immune system changes in older humans, by comparing TST immune responses at the molecular in healthy volunteers from two separate age groups, 16-25years and above 65years. After giving consent, a blood sample will be collected, followed by two injections of tuberculin under the skin of one forearm, and an equivalent volume of salt water in the other arm. The site of the salt water injection and adjacent normal skin will be biopsied six hours afterwards. One of the TST injection sites on the other arm will be examined and biopsied 48 hours after injection and the second TST injection site will be examined and biopsied seven days after injection. The data will be used to inform new strategies to improve immune responses associated with ageing.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0147
Date of REC Opinion
12 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion