Trial reportThe Journal of nutrition2013
Supplementation of elderly Japanese men and women with fucoidan from seaweed increases immune responses to seasonal influenza vaccination.
Trial report in The Journal of nutrition, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Brown Seaweed Food Supplementation: Effects on Allergy and Inflammation and Its Consequences.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Enhancing immunity in viral infections, with special emphasis on COVID-19: A review.Diabetes & metabolic syndromePooled it
- Could β-glucans enhance the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine by inducing trained immunity and boosting neutralizing antibody production?Frontiers in immunology · 2026Trial
- Effects of fucoidan supplementation on inflammatory and immune response after high-intensity exercise.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2023Trial
- Effects of Ingesting Fucoidan Derived fromMarine drugs · 2021Trial
- Effects ofNutrients · 2020Trial
- Effect of broccoli sprouts on nasal response to live attenuated influenza virus in smokers: a randomized, double-blind study.PloS one · 2014Trial
- PROMETHEUS clinical trial protocol: tailoring healthy ageing with lifestyle and nutraceuticals.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Immunopotentiation by Natural Extracts: Mechanisms and Applications in Influenza Vaccine Adjuvant Development.Food science & nutrition · 2026Review
- Algae and Algal Protein in Human Nutrition: A Narrative Review of Health Outcomes from Clinical Studies.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Therapeutic Potential of Kelp Fucoidan in Rebiosis of Gut Microflora and Immune Homeostasis in Cyclophosphamide-Induced Immunosuppressed Mice.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Targeting Non-Eosinophilic Immunological Pathways in COPD and AECOPD: Current Insights and Therapeutic Strategies.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025Review
- In vitro anticancer potential of laminarin and fucoidan from Brown seaweeds.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Impact of Diet and Lifestyle on Vaccine Efficacy in Adults Aged 55 and Older: A Review.Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) · 2022Review
- Antiviral Activity and Mechanisms of Seaweeds Bioactive Compounds on Enveloped Viruses-A Review.Marine drugs · 2022Review
- Therapeutic Applications of Fucoidans and their Potential to Act Against COVID-19.Current pharmaceutical design · 2022Review
- Review
- Fucoidan Independently Enhances Activity in Human Immune Cells and Has a Cytostatic Effect on Prostate Cancer Cells in the Presence of Nivolumab.Marine drugs · 2021Article
- Sirtuin 6: linking longevity with genome and epigenome stability.Trends in cell biology · 2021Review
- Potential role of marine species-derived bioactive agents in the management of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Future microbiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The elderly are known to have an inadequate immune response to influenza vaccine. Mekabu fucoidan (MF), a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from seaweed, was previously shown to have an immunomodulatory effect. We therefore investigated antibody production after influenza vaccination in elderly Japanese men and women with and without oral MF intake. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study was conducted with 70 volunteers >60 y of age. They were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups, consuming either MF (300 mg/d) or placebo for 4 wk, and then given a trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine. Serum was sampled at 5 and 20 wk after vaccination to measure the hemagglutination inhibition titer and natural killer cell activity. The MF group had higher antibody titers against all 3 strains contained in the seasonal influenza virus vaccine than the placebo group. Titers against the B/Brisbane/60/2008 (B) strain increased substantially more in the MF group than in the placebo group over the product consumption period. The immune response against B antigen met the European Union Licensure criteria regarding the geometric mean titer ratio in the MF group (2.4), but not in the placebo group (1.7). In the MF group, natural killer cell activity tended to increase from baseline 9 wk after MF intake (P = 0.08). However, in the placebo group no substantial increase was noted at 9 wk, and the activity decreased substantially from 9 to 24 wk. In the immunocompromised elderly, MF intake increased antibody production after vaccination, possibly preventing influenza epidemics.
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