tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Infect Dis
. 2023 Mar 1;jiad054.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiad054. Online ahead of print.
Antibody Responses to the SARS-CoV-2 Ancestral Strain and Omicron Variants in Moderna mRNA-1273 Vaccinated Active-Duty U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines
Peifang Sun[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Corey A Balinsky[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Le Jiang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Vihasi Jani[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Tran Khanh Long[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ying Cheng[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Mary Ann Serote[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Andrew B Smith[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Burnetta F Fears[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Stephanie K Gatrell[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Victor Sugiharto[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Huawei Chen[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Zhiwen Zhang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Tatyana Belinskaya[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Qi Qiu[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], William D Graham[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Megan A Schilling[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anthony R Jones[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Karen S Corson[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Nicholas J Martin[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Andrew G Letizia[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Robert D Hontz[SUP] 7 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Omicron and its subvariants have steadily gained greater capability of immune escape compared to other variants of concern, resulting in an increased incidence of reinfections even among vaccinated individuals. We evaluated the antibody response to Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and BA.4/5 in U.S. military members vaccinated with the primary 2-dose series of Moderna mRNA-1273 in a cross-sectional study. While nearly all vaccinated participants had sustained Spike (S) IgG and neutralizing antibodies (ND50) to the ancestral strain, only 7.7% participants had detectable ND50 to Omicron BA.1 at eight months post-vaccination. The neutralizing antibody response to BA.2 and BA.5 was similarly reduced. The reduced antibody neutralization of Omicron correlated with the decreased antibody binding to the Receptor-Binding Domain. The participants' seropositivity to the nuclear protein positively correlated with ND50. Our data emphasizes the need for continuous vigilance in monitoring for emerging variants and the need to identify potential alternative targets for vaccine design.
Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; coronavirus; immunity; mRNA-1273; neutralization; vaccine.
. 2023 Mar 1;jiad054.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiad054. Online ahead of print.
Antibody Responses to the SARS-CoV-2 Ancestral Strain and Omicron Variants in Moderna mRNA-1273 Vaccinated Active-Duty U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines
Peifang Sun[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Corey A Balinsky[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Le Jiang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Vihasi Jani[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Tran Khanh Long[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Ying Cheng[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Mary Ann Serote[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Andrew B Smith[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Burnetta F Fears[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Stephanie K Gatrell[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Victor Sugiharto[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Huawei Chen[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Zhiwen Zhang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Tatyana Belinskaya[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Qi Qiu[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], William D Graham[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Megan A Schilling[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anthony R Jones[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Karen S Corson[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Nicholas J Martin[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Andrew G Letizia[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Robert D Hontz[SUP] 7 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 36861215
- DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiad054
Abstract
Omicron and its subvariants have steadily gained greater capability of immune escape compared to other variants of concern, resulting in an increased incidence of reinfections even among vaccinated individuals. We evaluated the antibody response to Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and BA.4/5 in U.S. military members vaccinated with the primary 2-dose series of Moderna mRNA-1273 in a cross-sectional study. While nearly all vaccinated participants had sustained Spike (S) IgG and neutralizing antibodies (ND50) to the ancestral strain, only 7.7% participants had detectable ND50 to Omicron BA.1 at eight months post-vaccination. The neutralizing antibody response to BA.2 and BA.5 was similarly reduced. The reduced antibody neutralization of Omicron correlated with the decreased antibody binding to the Receptor-Binding Domain. The participants' seropositivity to the nuclear protein positively correlated with ND50. Our data emphasizes the need for continuous vigilance in monitoring for emerging variants and the need to identify potential alternative targets for vaccine design.
Keywords: COVID-19; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; coronavirus; immunity; mRNA-1273; neutralization; vaccine.