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Faustman DL, Lee A, Hostetter ER, Aristarkhova A, Ng NC, Shpilsky GF, Tran L, Wolfe G, Takahashi H, Dias HF, Braley J, Zheng H, Schoenfeld DA, Kühtreiber WM. Multiple BCG vaccinations for the prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in type 1 diabetes. Cell Rep Med 2022; 3:100728. [PMID: 36027906 PMCID: PMC9376308 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
There is a need for safe and effective platform vaccines to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases. In this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 2/3 trial, we evaluate the safety and efficacy of a multi-dose Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious disease in a COVID-19-unvaccinated, at-risk-community-based cohort. The at-risk population is made of up of adults with type 1 diabetes. We enrolled 144 subjects and randomized 96 to BCG and 48 to placebo. There were no dropouts over the 15-month trial. A cumulative incidence of 12.5% of placebo-treated and 1% of BCG-treated participants meets criteria for confirmed COVID-19, yielding an efficacy of 92%. The BCG group also displayed fewer infectious disease symptoms and lesser severity and fewer infectious disease events per patient, including COVID-19. There were no BCG-related systemic adverse events. BCG's broad-based infection protection suggests that it may provide platform protection against new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and other pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denise L Faustman
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02192, USA.
| | - Amanda Lee
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | | | | | - Nathan C Ng
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | | | - Lisa Tran
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - Grace Wolfe
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - Hiroyuki Takahashi
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - Hans F Dias
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - Joan Braley
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - Hui Zheng
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - David A Schoenfeld
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02192, USA
| | - Willem M Kühtreiber
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02192, USA
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Shpilsky GF, Takahashi H, Aristarkhova A, Weil M, Ng N, Nelson KJ, Lee A, Zheng H, Kühtreiber WM, Faustman DL. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin 's beneficial impact on glucose metabolism: evidence for broad based applications. iScience 2021; 24:103150. [PMID: 34646988 PMCID: PMC8501688 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccinations improve glycemic control in juvenile-onset Type I diabetes (T1D), an effect driven by restored sugar transport through aerobic glycolysis. In a pilot clinical trial, T1D, but not latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA), exhibited lower blood sugars after multidose BCG. Using a glucose transport assay, monocytes from T1D subjects showed a large stimulation index with BCG exposures; LADA subjects showed minimal BCG-induced sugar responsiveness. Monocytes from T1D, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and non-diabetic controls (NDC) were all responsive in vitro to BCG by augmented sugar utilization. Adults with prior neonatal BCG vaccination show accelerated glucose transport decades later. Finally, in vivo experiments with the NOD mouse (a T1D model) and obese db/db mice (a T2D model) confirm BCG's blood-sugar-lowering and accelerated glucose metabolism with sufficient dosing. Our results suggest that BCG's benefits for glucose metabolism may be broadly applicable to T1D and T2D, but less to LADA. A pilot trial of BCG vaccinations to T1D showed reduced blood sugars but not in LADA Monocytes from T1D and to some degree T2D display stimulated glucose transport BCG vaccinations at birth show accelerated glucose transport decades later In vivo mouse models of both T1D and T2D demonstrate BCG-induced blood sugar lowering
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriella F Shpilsky
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Hiroyuki Takahashi
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Anna Aristarkhova
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Michele Weil
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Diabetes Unit, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Nathan Ng
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Kacie J Nelson
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Amanda Lee
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Hui Zheng
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Statistics Department, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Willem M Kühtreiber
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA.,Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
| | - Denise L Faustman
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA.,Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Immunobiology Laboratories, Boston, MA 02129, USA
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