A systematic review of the literature on the human genetic variations in response to vaccination

BACKGROUND: Vaccinomics is a term that refers to the investigation of heterogeneity of host genetic markers at the individual or population level that may result in variations of humoral, cell-mediated, and/or innate immune responses to vaccines. Studying genetic heterogeneity of human response to vaccines is supposed to both afford a better understanding of the way vaccine works, and help in developing future vaccines that are protective. With this premise in mind, we performed a systematic review of the literature on the studies concerning the association between human genetic variations in response to vaccination. METHODS: A detailed literature search on the case-control and cohort studied was conducted on Medline and Google. The Medline query was structured as reported below: ((pharmacogenetics[mesh] OR pharmacogen* OR genetic association OR genetic susceptibility OR immunogenetics) AND (vaccine[Mesh] OR vaccin OR vaccina* OR vaccine* OR vaccini* OR vaccino* OR vaccinu*)) OR vaccinom* RESULTS: From the literature search, 1940 articles were retrieved, of which 276 screened by title. After careful abstract reading, 54 resulted eligible, of which 28 articles were eventually deemed eligible. From the 28 articles, more than 50% were conducted in the USA (Minnesota), and were conducted on the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine. The remaining studies were conducted on hepatitis B and A vaccines. The age group most studied ranged between 5 and 18 years. Almost 75% of the primary studies were concerned the HLA (Human Leukocyte antigen) genes, followed by Interleukin (IL), Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). CONCLUSIONS: As the increasing application of vaccinomics due to the application of whole-genome scanning occurs, the ever-growing body of genomic data on the individual inherited vaccine response will be responsibly managed by public health personnel to enable timely improvement of vaccination practice