tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Immunol
. 2024 Nov 21:15:1494432.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1494432. eCollection 2024. Long-term COVID-19 vaccine- and Omicron infection-induced humoral and cell-mediated immunity
Milja Belik[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Arttu Reinholm[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pekka Kolehmainen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jemna Heroum[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sari Maljanen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eda Altan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pamela Österlund[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Larissa Laine[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Olli Ritvos[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Arja Pasternack[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Rauno A Naves[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alina Iakubovskaia[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alex-Mikael Barkoff[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qiushui He[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Johanna Lempainen[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Paula A Tähtinen[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Lauri Ivaska[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Pinja Jalkanen[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ilkka Julkunen[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 4 6 [/SUP], Laura Kakkola[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 6 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Introduction: Mutations occurring in the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 enables the virus to evade COVID-19 vaccine- and infection-induced immunity.
Methods: Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of humoral and cell-mediated immunity in 111 healthcare workers who received three or four vaccine doses and were followed up to 12 and 6 months, respectively, after the last vaccine dose. Omicron breakthrough infection occurred in 71% of the vaccinees, enabling evaluation of vaccine- and vaccine/infection-induced hybrid immunity.
Results: Neutralizing antibodies were the highest against the ancestral D614G and were sequentially reduced against the Omicron variants BA.2, BA.5 and XBB.1.5. S1-specific IgG and neutralizing antibody levels were significantly higher in infected than in uninfected vaccinees, and the fourth vaccine dose in combination with a breakthrough infection resulted in high neutralizing antibody levels against all variants. T cell-mediated immunity, instead, was well retained already after two vaccine doses, and was not significantly strengthened by additional booster vaccine doses or Omicron breakthrough infections.
Discussion: While humoral immunity is sensitive to mutations in the S protein and thus declined rapidly, the cell-mediated immunity is durable to antigenic variation, which may explain the good efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against a severe disease.
Keywords: B cell responses; COVID-19; T cell responses; booster vaccination; cell-mediated immunity; hybrid immunity; long term immunity; mRNA vaccination.
. 2024 Nov 21:15:1494432.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1494432. eCollection 2024. Long-term COVID-19 vaccine- and Omicron infection-induced humoral and cell-mediated immunity
Milja Belik[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Arttu Reinholm[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pekka Kolehmainen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Jemna Heroum[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Sari Maljanen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Eda Altan[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Pamela Österlund[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Larissa Laine[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Olli Ritvos[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Arja Pasternack[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Rauno A Naves[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alina Iakubovskaia[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Alex-Mikael Barkoff[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Qiushui He[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Johanna Lempainen[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Paula A Tähtinen[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Lauri Ivaska[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Pinja Jalkanen[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ilkka Julkunen[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 4 6 [/SUP], Laura Kakkola[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 6 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 39640263
- PMCID: PMC11617562
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1494432
Introduction: Mutations occurring in the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 enables the virus to evade COVID-19 vaccine- and infection-induced immunity.
Methods: Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of humoral and cell-mediated immunity in 111 healthcare workers who received three or four vaccine doses and were followed up to 12 and 6 months, respectively, after the last vaccine dose. Omicron breakthrough infection occurred in 71% of the vaccinees, enabling evaluation of vaccine- and vaccine/infection-induced hybrid immunity.
Results: Neutralizing antibodies were the highest against the ancestral D614G and were sequentially reduced against the Omicron variants BA.2, BA.5 and XBB.1.5. S1-specific IgG and neutralizing antibody levels were significantly higher in infected than in uninfected vaccinees, and the fourth vaccine dose in combination with a breakthrough infection resulted in high neutralizing antibody levels against all variants. T cell-mediated immunity, instead, was well retained already after two vaccine doses, and was not significantly strengthened by additional booster vaccine doses or Omicron breakthrough infections.
Discussion: While humoral immunity is sensitive to mutations in the S protein and thus declined rapidly, the cell-mediated immunity is durable to antigenic variation, which may explain the good efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against a severe disease.
Keywords: B cell responses; COVID-19; T cell responses; booster vaccination; cell-mediated immunity; hybrid immunity; long term immunity; mRNA vaccination.