A research team at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) has discovered that exercise therapy using digital devices increases antiviral antibody production after influenza vaccination.

Digital therapy uses software medical devices to prevent and manage diseases and medical disorders and help patients improve their health by adjusting certain behaviors or modifying lifestyles.

The Covid-19 pandemic has proved that it is difficult to control viral infections due to high costs required to develop new vaccines and supply them.

Accordingly, digital therapeutics emerged as a new way to prevent large-scale viral infections and strengthen individual immunity.

Based on existing research that physical activities such as aerobic exercise can strengthen the immune system after influenza and Covid-19 vaccination, the research team, led by Professors Chang Yoon-seok, Choi Jun-pyo, and Kim Eu-suk, conducted a study to investigate the immune-enhancing effects of SAT-008, a digital device developed by S-Alpha Therapeutics.

The device provides users with real-time information in the form of an application on how and when to engage in activities that can increase immune response.

The researchers divided 42 people scheduled for influenza vaccination into two groups – a group that used SAT-008 and a control group that did not -- and measured changes in the immune response through data on anti-influenza antibodies produced by the body after vaccination.

After monitoring the patients one and three months after vaccination, the team found that the SAT-008 arm produced and maintained higher antiviral antibody titers against influenza B antigens compared to the control group.

The researchers said the results indicate a higher concentration of antibodies that can neutralize the virus once it enters the body, confirming that SAT-008 acts like a vaccine adjuvant to increase and prolong the immune response to the virus.

The team also found that participants who completed 75 percent of SAT-008's recommendation had an increase in cytokines (IL-10, IL-1β, and IL-6), suggesting that higher adherence is associated with greater antibody production and significantly longer duration.

"This study is significant because it is the first research to confirm the immune-boosting effect of using digital devices in the field of immunity and infection, and to show its potential application," Professor Chang said. "The team expects that digital devices can be used to enhance immunity after vaccination against not only influenza but also other viruses such as Covid-19."

The findings were published in the latest issue of the Immune Network.