newborn vaccinationThe immune responses of a newborn limit immune system response to infection and vaccination. Researchers from the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School recently published a study showing positive adjuvant response in newborns treated with a TLR8 agonist. The study was published in PLoS One.

The TLR8 agonist VTX-294 was found to increase leukocyte response in newborns, in some cases 100 times the activity seen in normal function. The effect was also measured in adult leukocyte production. Researchers attempted the same tests with Imidazoquinolines and combination therapies, but VTX-294 was at the heart of the most beneficial results.

Conclusion: Vaccines administered to newborns and aging adults may be more effective when administered with a potent TLR8 agonist like VTX-294. Imidazoquinolines did not result in the same level of leukocyte activation.

Source: Dowling DJ, Tan Z, Prokopowicz ZM, Palmer CD, Matthews MA, Dietsch GN, Hershberg RM, Levy O. The Ultra-Potent and Selective TLR8 Agonist VTX-294 Activates Human Newborn and Adult Leukocytes. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58164. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058164. Epub 2013 Mar 4.