tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Immunol
. 2026 Apr 24:17:1762522.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1762522. eCollection 2026.
Post-booster longitudinal plasma proteomic changes following BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination in Qatar
Sana Bentebbal[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ahmed Zaqout[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Bakhita Meqbel[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ilham Bensmail[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Abdullah Aldushain[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Alberto de la Fuente[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Remy Thomas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Adviti Naik[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hibah Shaath[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Neyla S Al-Akl[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Abdi Adam[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Houda Y A Moussa[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Kyung C Shin[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Rowaida Z Taha[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Mohammed Abukhattab[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Muna A Al-Maslamani[SUP] 2 7 [/SUP], Nehad M Alajez[SUP] 1 8 [/SUP], Abdelilah Arredouani[SUP] 5 8 [/SUP], Yongsoo Park[SUP] 6 8 [/SUP], Sara A Abdulla[SUP] 6 8 [/SUP], Omar M A El-Agnaf[SUP] 6 8 [/SUP], Houari B Abdesselem[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ali S Omrani[SUP] 2 7 [/SUP], Julie Decock[SUP] 1 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a major global health and economic burden. Although the pandemic was no longer declared a public health emergency of international concern in May 2023, SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to emerge, and millions remain affected by long COVID. This raises the question whether continued vaccination provides lasting benefits in preventing viral transmission and severe illness.
Aim: This longitudinal study assessed the effects of the third BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine dose on the circulating proteome for 6 months.
Methods: Plasma levels of 354 unique proteins were quantified before, and at 3- and 6-months post-booster using Olink technology in 70 healthy individuals; 35 infection-naïve and 35 previously infected individuals (18 infected before, 17 after completing the two-dose regimen).
Results: Infection-naïve individuals showed altered levels of eleven and eight proteins at 3- and 6-months post-booster, respectively, including a significant sustained increase in PARP-1 (FC = 1.53, p=8.59x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.01) and significant decrease in MMP-7 (FC = 0.68, p=4.58x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.01), in addition to elevated levels of MMP-1 (FC = 1.46, p=0.04, pFDR>0.05) and decrease in 4E-BP1 (FC = 0.58, p=0.01, pFDR>0.05) at 6 months post-booster. Similarly, previously infected individuals, in particular those with earlier infections before receiving the second dose exhibited a significant sustained upregulation of PARP-1 (FC = 2.10, p=1.19x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.003) and downregulation of MMP-7 (FC = 0.58, p=2.19x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.003) at 6-months post-booster. Notably, PARP-1 and MMP-7 were consistently affected across all individuals. Longitudinal proteome profiling revealed dysregulation of key inflammatory proteins for up to 6 months post-booster, including PARP-1 and MMP-7 (pFDR=1.58x10[SUP]-8[/SUP] and pFDR=1.59x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], respectively).
Conclusions: These findings provide insights into the temporal dynamics of circulating proteomic responses following booster vaccination, highlighting molecular features that may be relevant to immune readiness and post-vaccination inflammatory processes.
Keywords: BNT162b2; MMP-7; PARP-1; SARS-CoV-2; booster; proteomic profiling.
. 2026 Apr 24:17:1762522.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1762522. eCollection 2026.
Post-booster longitudinal plasma proteomic changes following BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination in Qatar
Sana Bentebbal[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ahmed Zaqout[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 2 [/SUP], Bakhita Meqbel[SUP] #[/SUP][SUP] 1 [/SUP], Ilham Bensmail[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Abdullah Aldushain[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Alberto de la Fuente[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Remy Thomas[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Adviti Naik[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Hibah Shaath[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Neyla S Al-Akl[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Abdi Adam[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Houda Y A Moussa[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Kyung C Shin[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Rowaida Z Taha[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Mohammed Abukhattab[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Muna A Al-Maslamani[SUP] 2 7 [/SUP], Nehad M Alajez[SUP] 1 8 [/SUP], Abdelilah Arredouani[SUP] 5 8 [/SUP], Yongsoo Park[SUP] 6 8 [/SUP], Sara A Abdulla[SUP] 6 8 [/SUP], Omar M A El-Agnaf[SUP] 6 8 [/SUP], Houari B Abdesselem[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ali S Omrani[SUP] 2 7 [/SUP], Julie Decock[SUP] 1 8 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 42112321
- PMCID: PMC13152856
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1762522
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a major global health and economic burden. Although the pandemic was no longer declared a public health emergency of international concern in May 2023, SARS-CoV-2 variants continue to emerge, and millions remain affected by long COVID. This raises the question whether continued vaccination provides lasting benefits in preventing viral transmission and severe illness.
Aim: This longitudinal study assessed the effects of the third BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine dose on the circulating proteome for 6 months.
Methods: Plasma levels of 354 unique proteins were quantified before, and at 3- and 6-months post-booster using Olink technology in 70 healthy individuals; 35 infection-naïve and 35 previously infected individuals (18 infected before, 17 after completing the two-dose regimen).
Results: Infection-naïve individuals showed altered levels of eleven and eight proteins at 3- and 6-months post-booster, respectively, including a significant sustained increase in PARP-1 (FC = 1.53, p=8.59x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.01) and significant decrease in MMP-7 (FC = 0.68, p=4.58x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.01), in addition to elevated levels of MMP-1 (FC = 1.46, p=0.04, pFDR>0.05) and decrease in 4E-BP1 (FC = 0.58, p=0.01, pFDR>0.05) at 6 months post-booster. Similarly, previously infected individuals, in particular those with earlier infections before receiving the second dose exhibited a significant sustained upregulation of PARP-1 (FC = 2.10, p=1.19x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.003) and downregulation of MMP-7 (FC = 0.58, p=2.19x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], pFDR=0.003) at 6-months post-booster. Notably, PARP-1 and MMP-7 were consistently affected across all individuals. Longitudinal proteome profiling revealed dysregulation of key inflammatory proteins for up to 6 months post-booster, including PARP-1 and MMP-7 (pFDR=1.58x10[SUP]-8[/SUP] and pFDR=1.59x10[SUP]-5[/SUP], respectively).
Conclusions: These findings provide insights into the temporal dynamics of circulating proteomic responses following booster vaccination, highlighting molecular features that may be relevant to immune readiness and post-vaccination inflammatory processes.
Keywords: BNT162b2; MMP-7; PARP-1; SARS-CoV-2; booster; proteomic profiling.