Tufts University. US: In a study of older mice, wolfberries appear to interact with the
influenza vaccine to offer additional protection against the flu virus.
The results of the research, led by scientists at the Jean Mayer
USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA),
were published in the Journal of Nutrition.
Older mice, with immune systems weakened by age,
were placed on diets that included a small amount of
wolfberry fruit, also known as goji berries. Over a period of
several weeks, they received two flu vaccines before being
infected with the flu virus. The researchers then tested the mice
for influenza antibodies as well as the clinical symptoms of the
disease, such as weight loss. The mice had more antibodies and lost
less weight than those that had not eaten wolfberries.
Further research is needed to determine whether wolfberries could
have a similar vaccine-boosting effect in humans, whose immune
systems inevitably weaken with age, says Professor Simin
Nikbin Meydani, D.V.M., Ph.D., senior author and director of
the HNRCA and its Nutritional Immunology Laboratory.
“The flu vaccine is only 40 percent effective in
protecting older adults against flu infection, which
is much lower than the protection afforded to younger
people,” she says. “For those reasons, it is important to
investigate complementary approaches that may enhance the
effectiveness of vaccination.”