tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Transl Med
. 2025 Sep 17;17(816):eadv4214.
doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adv4214. Epub 2025 Sep 17. Longitudinal antibody titers measured after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination can identify individuals at risk for subsequent infection
Hyeongki Park[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Naotoshi Nakamura[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Sho Miyamoto[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Yoshitaka Sato[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Kwang Su Kim[SUP] 1 7 8 [/SUP], Kosaku Kitagawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yurie Kobashi[SUP] 9 10 [/SUP], Yuta Tani[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Yuzo Shimazu[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Tianchen Zhao[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Yoshitaka Nishikawa[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Fumiya Omata[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Moe Kawashima[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Toshiki Abe[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Yoshika Saito[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Saori Nonaka[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Morihito Takita[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Chika Yamamoto[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Hiroshi Morioka[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Katsuhiro Kato[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Ken Sagou[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Tetsuya Yagi[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Takeshi Kawamura[SUP] 14 15 [/SUP], Akira Sugiyama[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Aya Nakayama[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Yudai Kaneko[SUP] 15 16 [/SUP], Risa Yokokawa Shibata[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Kazuyuki Aihara[SUP] 18 [/SUP], Tatsuhiko Kodama[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Akifumi Kamiyama[SUP] 19 [/SUP], Tomokazu Tamura[SUP] 19 20 21 22 [/SUP], Takasuke Fukuhara[SUP] 19 20 21 22 23 24 [/SUP], Kenji Shibuya[SUP] 25 [/SUP], Tadaki Suzuki[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Shingo Iwami[SUP] 1 18 26 27 28 29 30 [/SUP], Masaharu Tsubokura[SUP] 9 10 11 31 [/SUP]
Affiliations
A key issue in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era is the ongoing administration of COVID-19 vaccines. Repeated vaccination is essential for preparing against currently circulating and newly emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants. However, optimizing vaccination strategies is crucial to efficiently manage medical resources and establish an effective vaccination framework. Therefore, a strategy to identify poor responders with lower sustained antibody titers would be beneficial because these individuals should be considered high priority for revaccination. We investigated longitudinal antibody titer data in a cohort of 2526 people in Fukushima, Japan, collected between April 2021 and November 2022. Using mathematical modeling and machine learning, we stratified the time-course patterns of antibody titers after two primary doses and one booster dose of COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccines. We identified three populations, which we refer to as the durable, the vulnerable, and the rapid-decliner populations, and approximately half of the participants remained in the same population after the booster dose. The rapid-decliner population experienced earlier infections than the others. Furthermore, when comparing spike protein-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers, spike protein-specific IgA titers, and SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses between participants who experienced subsequent infections after booster vaccination and those who did not, we found that spike protein-specific IgA titers were lower during the early stage after booster vaccination in participants who went on to become infected with SARS-CoV-2. This approach could be used to inform policy decisions on vaccine distribution to maximize population-level immunity both in future pandemics and in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
. 2025 Sep 17;17(816):eadv4214.
doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adv4214. Epub 2025 Sep 17. Longitudinal antibody titers measured after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination can identify individuals at risk for subsequent infection
Hyeongki Park[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Naotoshi Nakamura[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Sho Miyamoto[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Yoshitaka Sato[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Kwang Su Kim[SUP] 1 7 8 [/SUP], Kosaku Kitagawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yurie Kobashi[SUP] 9 10 [/SUP], Yuta Tani[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Yuzo Shimazu[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Tianchen Zhao[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Yoshitaka Nishikawa[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Fumiya Omata[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Moe Kawashima[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Toshiki Abe[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Yoshika Saito[SUP] 11 [/SUP], Saori Nonaka[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Morihito Takita[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Chika Yamamoto[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Hiroshi Morioka[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Katsuhiro Kato[SUP] 13 [/SUP], Ken Sagou[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Tetsuya Yagi[SUP] 12 [/SUP], Takeshi Kawamura[SUP] 14 15 [/SUP], Akira Sugiyama[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Aya Nakayama[SUP] 14 [/SUP], Yudai Kaneko[SUP] 15 16 [/SUP], Risa Yokokawa Shibata[SUP] 17 [/SUP], Kazuyuki Aihara[SUP] 18 [/SUP], Tatsuhiko Kodama[SUP] 15 [/SUP], Akifumi Kamiyama[SUP] 19 [/SUP], Tomokazu Tamura[SUP] 19 20 21 22 [/SUP], Takasuke Fukuhara[SUP] 19 20 21 22 23 24 [/SUP], Kenji Shibuya[SUP] 25 [/SUP], Tadaki Suzuki[SUP] 4 5 [/SUP], Shingo Iwami[SUP] 1 18 26 27 28 29 30 [/SUP], Masaharu Tsubokura[SUP] 9 10 11 31 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40961221
- DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adv4214
A key issue in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era is the ongoing administration of COVID-19 vaccines. Repeated vaccination is essential for preparing against currently circulating and newly emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants. However, optimizing vaccination strategies is crucial to efficiently manage medical resources and establish an effective vaccination framework. Therefore, a strategy to identify poor responders with lower sustained antibody titers would be beneficial because these individuals should be considered high priority for revaccination. We investigated longitudinal antibody titer data in a cohort of 2526 people in Fukushima, Japan, collected between April 2021 and November 2022. Using mathematical modeling and machine learning, we stratified the time-course patterns of antibody titers after two primary doses and one booster dose of COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccines. We identified three populations, which we refer to as the durable, the vulnerable, and the rapid-decliner populations, and approximately half of the participants remained in the same population after the booster dose. The rapid-decliner population experienced earlier infections than the others. Furthermore, when comparing spike protein-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers, spike protein-specific IgA titers, and SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses between participants who experienced subsequent infections after booster vaccination and those who did not, we found that spike protein-specific IgA titers were lower during the early stage after booster vaccination in participants who went on to become infected with SARS-CoV-2. This approach could be used to inform policy decisions on vaccine distribution to maximize population-level immunity both in future pandemics and in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.