300BCG
Posted on 27 November 2025
This study comprises 325 healthy individuals, 56% of whom are female, who received the BCG vaccine.
Adult volunteers of Western European ancestry were included between April 2017 and June 2018 in the Radboud University Medical Center. After written informed consent was obtained, EDTA blood was collected, followed by administration of a standard dose of 0.1 mL BCG (BCG-Bulgaria, InterVax) intradermally in the left upper arm. Two weeks and three months after vaccination, additional blood samples were collected.
In this cohort, the available data are as follows:
- – Demographics and health-related data
- – Cytokine production upon incubation with stimuli
- – Immunophenotyping
- – Proteomics
- – Metabolomics
- – Transcriptomics
- – Epigenomics
- – Genotyping
- – Microbiome
*The 300BCG study was approved by the Arnhem-Nijmegen Medical Ethical Committee (NL58553.091.16).
Selected Publications
Zhan, Q., Zhou, L., Fu, J., Jiang, X., Liu, X., Li, W., Moorlag, S. J. C. F. M., Koeken, V. A. C. M., de Bree, L. C. J., Mourits, V. P., Joosten, L. A. B., Li, Y., Netea, M. G., & Xu, C. J. (2026). Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals Sex-Specific Signatures for BCG Vaccine Efficacy. European journal of immunology, 56(2), e70144. https://doi.org/10.1002/eji.70144
Qi, C., Liu, Z., Kilic, G., Sarlea, A. S., Debisarun, P. A., Liu, X., Mekonnen, Y. A., Li, W., Grasshoff, M., Alaswad, A., Petkoglou, A., Koeken, V. A. C. M., Moorlag, S. J. C. F. M., de Bree, L. C. J., Mourits, V. P., Joosten, L. A. B., Li, Y., Netea, M. G., & Xu, C. J. (2025). Long-term DNA methylation changes mediate heterologous cytokine responses after BCG vaccination. Genome biology, 26(1), 180. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-025-03611-9
Moorlag, S. J. C. F. M., Folkman, L., Ter Horst, R., Krausgruber, T., Barreca, D., Schuster, L. C., Fife, V., Matzaraki, V., Li, W., Reichl, S., Mourits, V. P., Koeken, V. A. C. M., de Bree, L. C. J., Dijkstra, H., Lemmers, H., van Cranenbroek, B., van Rijssen, E., Koenen, H. J. P. M., Joosten, I., Xu, C. J., … Bock, C. (2024). Multi-omics analysis of innate and adaptive responses to BCG vaccination reveals epigenetic cell states that predict trained immunity. Immunity, 57(1), 171–187.e14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2023.12.005
Li, W., Moorlag, S. J. C. F. M., Koeken, V. A. C. M., Röring, R. J., de Bree, L. C. J., Mourits, V. P., Gupta, M. K., Zhang, B., Fu, J., Zhang, Z., Grondman, I., van Meijgaarden, K. E., Zhou, L., Alaswad, A., Joosten, L. A. B., van Crevel, R., Xu, C. J., Netea, M. G., & Li, Y. (2023). A single-cell view on host immune transcriptional response to in vivo BCG-induced trained immunity. Cell reports, 42(5), 112487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112487
Koeken, V. A. C. M., Qi, C., Mourits, V. P., de Bree, L. C. J., Moorlag, S. J. C. F. M., Sonawane, V., Lemmers, H., Dijkstra, H., Joosten, L. A. B., van Laarhoven, A., Xu, C. J., van Crevel, R., Netea, M. G., & Li, Y. (2022). Plasma metabolome predicts trained immunity responses after antituberculosis BCG vaccination. PLoS biology, 20(9), e3001765. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001765
Stražar, M., Mourits, V. P., Koeken, V. A. C. M., de Bree, L. C. J., Moorlag, S. J. C. F. M., Joosten, L. A. B., van Crevel, R., Vlamakis, H., Netea, M. G., & Xavier, R. J. (2021). The influence of the gut microbiome on BCG-induced trained immunity. Genome biology, 22(1), 275. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-021-02482-0
de Bree, L. C. J., Mourits, V. P., Koeken, V. A., Moorlag, S. J., Janssen, R., Folkman, L., Barreca, D., Krausgruber, T., Fife-Gernedl, V., Novakovic, B., Arts, R. J., Dijkstra, H., Lemmers, H., Bock, C., Joosten, L. A., van Crevel, R., Benn, C. S., & Netea, M. G. (2020). Circadian rhythm influences induction of trained immunity by BCG vaccination. The Journal of clinical investigation, 130(10), 5603–5617. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI133934
Koeken, V. A., de Bree, L. C. J., Mourits, V. P., Moorlag, S. J., Walk, J., Cirovic, B., Arts, R. J., Jaeger, M., Dijkstra, H., Lemmers, H., Joosten, L. A., Benn, C. S., van Crevel, R., & Netea, M. G. (2020). BCG vaccination in humans inhibits systemic inflammation in a sex-dependent manner. The Journal of clinical investigation, 130(10), 5591–5602. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI133935