coli</i> in young (<i>p</i> = 0.045) and older volunteers (<i>p</i> = 0.008) and induced a TNF-α release in whole blood collected from older volunteers but not from younger ones (<i>p</i> = 0.008).<h4>Conclusions</h4>These data encourage the isolation of active compounds of GA and the initiation of clinical trials addressing the preventive effect of GA on bacterial infections. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and bacterial infectious disease.