ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2020
BCG vaccination in humans inhibits systemic inflammation in a sex-dependent manner.
Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
102 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 160 citations in OpenAlex.
- Immune mechanisms mediating the heterologous effects of BCG vaccination: a systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Gender differences in tuberculosis incidence rates-A pooled analysis of data from seven high-income countries by age group and time period.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Age-related differences in immune responses to inactivated influenza and adjuvanted recombinant herpes zoster vaccines.JCI insight · 2026Trial
- BCG-Induced DNA Methylation Changes Improve Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine Immunity Without Decreasing the Risk for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Trial
- The impact of circadian rhythm on Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination effects on SARS-CoV-2 infections.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Trial
- Efficacy of BCG Vaccination Against Respiratory Tract Infections in Older Adults During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of BCG Revaccination WithFrontiers in immunology · 2022Trial
- Revisiting the Chingleput BCG vaccination trial for the impact of BCG revaccination on the incidence of tuberculosis disease.The Indian journal of medical researchTrial
- Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy reprograms CNS immunity and alters Alzheimer's biomarkers: results from two open-label clinical trials.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Interferon-related inflammaging links epigenetic age acceleration to multimorbidity.Cell genomics · 2026Article
- Trained Immunity Induced by Vaccines: A Shifting Paradigm for Infant and Adult Immunity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccination and the Immune-Brain Axis: Implications for Neuroprotection and Neurodegenerative Disease.Vaccines · 2026Review
- Molecular signatures and causal factors underlying latent cytomegalovirus infection among people living with HIV (PLHIV).Nature communications · 2026Article
- Sex as a Biological Variable in Tuberculosis Pathogenesis.Immunological reviews · 2026Review
- Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals Sex-Specific Signatures for BCG Vaccine Efficacy.European journal of immunology · 2026Article
- Recent perspectives on macrophage memory: types, mechanisms, and characteristics in pulmonary diseases.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- BCG Vaccination Modulates Long-Term TNF-α and sCD40L in COVID-19: An Exploratory Longitudinal Study.International journal of general medicine · 2026Article
- Multi-omics Data Integration.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Unleashing the power of the BCG vaccine in modulating viral immunity through heterologous protection: A scoping review.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUNDInduction of innate immune memory, also termed trained immunity, by the antituberculosis vaccine bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) contributes to protection against heterologous infections. However, the overall impact of BCG vaccination on the inflammatory status of an individual is not known; while induction of trained immunity may suggest increased inflammation, BCG vaccination has been epidemiologically associated with a reduced incidence of inflammatory and allergic diseases.METHODSWe investigated the impact of BCG (BCG-Bulgaria, InterVax) vaccination on systemic inflammation in a cohort of 303 healthy volunteers, as well as the effect of the inflammatory status on the response to vaccination. A targeted proteome platform was used to measure circulating inflammatory proteins before and after BCG vaccination, while ex vivo Mycobacterium tuberculosis- and Staphylococcus aureus-induced cytokine responses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were used to assess trained immunity.RESULTSWhile BCG vaccination enhanced cytokine responses to restimulation, it reduced systemic inflammation. This effect was validated in 3 smaller cohorts, and was much stronger in men than in women. In addition, baseline circulating inflammatory markers were associated with ex vivo cytokine responses (trained immunity) after BCG vaccination.CONCLUSIONThe capacity of BCG to enhance microbial responsiveness while dampening systemic inflammation should be further explored for potential therapeutic applications.FUNDINGNetherlands Organization for Scientific Research, European Research Council, and the Danish National Research Foundation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.