NMM/OMTBRIEF REPORT

Augmentation of immune response to vaccinations through osteopathic manipulative treatment: a study of procedure

Jesus Sanchez, Jr., DO, MSPHE, MA; Eric S. Martinez, BS; Brian Loveless, DO; Julieanne P. Sees, DO, MBA; Joseph Zammuto, DO; Hendrik Szurmant, PhD; Sebastien Fuchs, MD, PhD; Paula Crone, DO; and Robert Hostoffer, DO, LhD, MBA, MSMEd
Notes and Affiliations
Notes and Affiliations

Received: August 21, 2023

Accepted: October 30, 2023

Published: November 28, 2023

  • Jesus Sanchez, Jr., DO, MSPHE, MA, 

    Department of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Eric S. Martinez, BS, 

    Department of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Brian Loveless, DO, 

    Department of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine/Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Julieanne P. Sees, DO, MBA, 

    Fellow Osteopathic Medicine, National Academy of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

  • Joseph Zammuto, DO, 

    Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Hendrik Szurmant, PhD, 

    Department of Basic Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Sebastien Fuchs, MD, PhD, 

    Department of Basic Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Paula Crone, DO, 

    Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, USA

  • Robert Hostoffer, DO, LhD, MBA, MSMEd, 

    University Hospitals, Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA

J Osteopath Med; 124(4): 163-170
Abstract

Context: Anecdotal evidence suggested that osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) may have imparted survivability to patients in osteopathic hospitals during the 1918 influenza pandemic. In addition, previous OMT research publications throughout the past century have shown evidence of increased lymphatic movement, resulting in improved immunologic function qualitatively and quantitatively.

Objectives: The following is a description of a proposed protocol to evaluate OMT effects on antibody generation in the peripheral circulation in response to a vaccine and its possible use in the augmentation of various vaccines. This protocol will serve as a template for OMT vaccination studies, and by adhering to the gold standard of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), future studies utilizing this outline may contribute to the much-needed advancement of the scientific literature in this field.

Methods: This manuscript intends to describe a protocol that will demonstrate increased antibody titers to a vaccine through OMT utilized in previous historical studies. Confirmation data will follow this manuscript validating the protocol. Study participants will be divided into groups with and without OMT with lymphatic pumps. Each group will receive the corresponding vaccine and have antibody titers measured against the specific vaccine pathogen drawn at determined intervals.

Results: These results will be statistically evaluated. Our demonstration of a rational scientific OMT vaccine antibody augmentation will serve as the standard for such investigation that will be reported in the future. These vaccines could include COVID-19 mRNA, influenza, shingles, rabies, and various others. The antibody response to vaccines is the resulting conclusion of its administration. Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) lymphatic pumps have, in the past through anecdotal reports and smaller pilot studies, shown effectiveness on peripheral immune augmentation to vaccines.

Conclusions: This described protocol will be the template for more extensive scientific studies supporting osteopathic medicine’s benefit on vaccine response. The initial vaccine studies will include the COVID-19 mRNA, influenza, shingles, and rabies vaccines.

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