Impact of the intestinal environment on the immune responses to vaccination.

Hosomi, Koji; Kunisawa, Jun

Vaccination has contributed greatly to the control of infectious diseases; however, regional and individual differences are occasionally observed in the efficacy of vaccination. As one explanation for these differences, much attention has focused on the intestinal environment constructed by the interaction of diet and the gut microbiota. The intestinal environment has several physiological effects on the host immune system, both locally and systemically, and consequently influences the efficacy of vaccination. In this review, we discuss the impact of the gut microbiota and dietary nutrients on systemic and oral vaccination as well as their applications in various strategies for immunoregulation, including use as vaccine adjuvants. This information could contribute to establishing methods of personalized vaccination that would optimize host immunity by changing the gut environment to maximize vaccine effects.