Cell Host Microbe https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2018.04.009 (2018)

Vaccine responses can vary considerably among people, with both genetic factors and environmental factors exerting an influence. In Cell Host and Microbe, Lynn and colleagues use a mouse model to assess the effect of early-life exposure to antibiotics (ampicillin and neomycin) on responses to five different vaccines. In all cases, early exposure to antibiotics results in impaired antibody responses. In contrast, T cell cytokine responses are intact or even enhanced. Exposure of adult mice to antibiotics does not impair vaccine responses. The impairment of antibody responses seems to be dependent on antibiotic-driven dysbiosis rather than on direct effects of the antibiotics themselves. Understanding the microbiotal factors that shape vaccine responses might help in the tailoring of vaccinations, such as by the inclusion of probiotics.