What does this research mean for the field?

Body mass index may influence cellular immune responses following influenza vaccination, although overall antibody responses remain broadly similar between obese and normal-weight individuals. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate whether body mass index affects influenza-specific antibody titers and circulating immune cell counts across nine months following influenza vaccination.

September 10, 2026BMC ImmunologyOpen Access

Association between body mass index and influenza antibody titer and immune cell count after influenza vaccination: an exploratory study

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Authors

SBSelina Böll TSTimo Schmitz MEMaren Eggers

Discussion

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Overview

Prospective cohort study reveals altered cellular and strain-specific antibody responses after influenza vaccination in individuals with obesity, suggesting BMI influences post-vaccine immunity.

Key Points

To investigate whether body mass index affects influenza-specific antibody titers and circulating immune cell counts across nine months following influenza vaccination.
Analyzed an observational subgroup of N=25 participants aged 25–65 years (18 normal-weight, 7 with obesity) from the prospective MEGA cohort in Augsburg, Germany.
Evaluated influenza antibody titers and immune cell phenotypes across four visits over nine months post-vaccination using boxplots, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests.
Post-vaccination antibody titers increased and remained above baseline in both groups, but normal-weight participants demonstrated significant titer increases across all four analyzed viral strains at all follow-up visits, whereas participants with obesity showed significant increases for only two strains (B/Colorado/06/2017 and B/Phuket/3073/2013).
Participants with obesity exhibited a non-significant downward trend in regulatory T-cell proportions over time, while B-cell proportions showed significant differences between normal-weight and obese groups at visits 1 and 3 without consistent longitudinal trends.

Cite This Study

Böll et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa27b8858559d80afc74d42 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12865-026-00903-y

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September 10, 2026BMC ImmunologyOpen Access

Association between body mass index and influenza antibody titer and immune cell count after influenza vaccination: an exploratory study

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

SBSelina Böll TSTimo Schmitz MEMaren Eggers

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Prospective cohort study reveals altered cellular and strain-specific antibody responses after influenza vaccination in individuals with obesity, suggesting BMI influences post-vaccine immunity.

Key Points

To investigate whether body mass index affects influenza-specific antibody titers and circulating immune cell counts across nine months following influenza vaccination.
Analyzed an observational subgroup of N=25 participants aged 25–65 years (18 normal-weight, 7 with obesity) from the prospective MEGA cohort in Augsburg, Germany.
Evaluated influenza antibody titers and immune cell phenotypes across four visits over nine months post-vaccination using boxplots, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests.
Post-vaccination antibody titers increased and remained above baseline in both groups, but normal-weight participants demonstrated significant titer increases across all four analyzed viral strains at all follow-up visits, whereas participants with obesity showed significant increases for only two strains (B/Colorado/06/2017 and B/Phuket/3073/2013).
Participants with obesity exhibited a non-significant downward trend in regulatory T-cell proportions over time, while B-cell proportions showed significant differences between normal-weight and obese groups at visits 1 and 3 without consistent longitudinal trends.

Cite This Study

Böll et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa27b8858559d80afc74d42 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12865-026-00903-y

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark