B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose

Robert Markewitz; Daniela Pauli; Justina Dargvainiene; Katja Steinhagen; Sarah Engel; Victor Herbst; Dorinja Zapf; Christina Krüger; Shahpour Sharifzadeh; Benjamin Schomburg; Frank Leypoldt; Jan Rupp; Siegfried Görg; Ralf Junker; Klaus Peter Wandinger

doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028

B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose

Robert Markewitz^*, Daniela Pauli, Justina Dargvainiene, Katja Steinhagen, Sarah Engel, Victor Herbst, Dorinja Zapf, Christina Krüger, Shahpour Sharifzadeh, Benjamin Schomburg, Frank Leypoldt, Jan Rupp, Siegfried Görg, Ralf Junker, Klaus Peter Wandinger

^*Corresponding author for this work

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the state of B-cell immunity 6 months after the second vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to the state observed 2 weeks after vaccination. Methods: Sera of 439 participants, whose immune responses to two doses of an mRNA-based vaccine (BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273) were previously characterized, was examined for anti-S1 IgG and IgA, anti-NCP IgG and neutralizing antibodies (nAb), and antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Results: Levels of all examined markers decreased significantly from 2 weeks to 6 months after second vaccination (anti-S1 IgG: 3744 ± 2571.4 vs. 253 ± 144 binding antibody units (BAU)/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 12 ± 0 vs. 1.98 ± 1.75 optical density (OD) ratio; nAb: 100% ± 0% vs. 82% ± 19.3%), the vast majority of participants retaining reactive levels of anti-S1 IgG (436/439) and anti-S1 IgA (334/439) at 6 months. Immune responses were stronger for mRNA-1273 compared with BNT162b2 (anti-S1 IgG: 429 ± 289 vs. 243 ± 143 BAU/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 5.38 ± 3.91 vs. 1.89 ± 1.53 OD ratio; nAb: 90.5% ± 12.6% vs. 81% ± 19.3%). There was no meaningful influence of sex and age on the examined markers. There was a strong correlation between anti-S1 IgG and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.91, p <0.0001), but not for for IgA and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.52, p <0.0001). There was a ceiling effect for the association between anti-S1 IgG titres and the inhibition of binding between S1 and ACE2. ANA prevalence was unchanged from 2 weeks to 6 months after the second vaccination (87/498 vs. 77/435), as were the median ANA titres (1:160 vs. 1:160). Discussion: Although the clinical consequences of decreasing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titres cannot be estimated with certainty, a lowered degree of clinical protection against SARS-CoV-2 is possible. Persistently stronger responses to mRNA-1273 suggest that it might confer greater protection than BNT162b2, even 6 months after the second vaccination. Neither examined vaccinations induced ANA within the examined time frame.

Original language	English
Journal	Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Volume	28
Issue number	7
Pages (from-to)	1024.e1-1024.e6
ISSN	1198-743X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028
Publication status	Published - 07.2022

Funding

The authors want to express their gratitude towards all colleagues and coworkers who have made this study possible. Special thanks to Mrs. Taylor Legorreta, Mrs. Ingrid Ascha, Mrs. Franziska Peters, Mrs. Dorothea Bachmann, Mrs. Sarah Schultz, Mrs. Silke Lipke-Reinke, Mrs. Astrid Messall, Mrs. Kathrin Johannsen, Mrs. Michaela Seidel, Mrs. Alexandra Jurat, Mrs. Grazyna Wardzinski, Mrs. Sarah Kuckertz, Mrs. Sabine Arp, Mrs. Jana Eicke-Metzenthin, and Mrs. Gesa Schreyer, without whom this project would not have been possible.

Research Areas and Centers

Academic Focus: Center for Infection and Inflammation Research (ZIEL)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028

Cite this

Markewitz, R., Pauli, D., Dargvainiene, J., Steinhagen, K., Engel, S., Herbst, V., Zapf, D., Krüger, C., Sharifzadeh, S., Schomburg, B., Leypoldt, F., Rupp, J., Görg, S., Junker, R., & Wandinger, K. P. (2022). B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 28(7), 1024.e1-1024.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028

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title = "B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose",

abstract = "Objectives: To examine the state of B-cell immunity 6 months after the second vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to the state observed 2 weeks after vaccination. Methods: Sera of 439 participants, whose immune responses to two doses of an mRNA-based vaccine (BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273) were previously characterized, was examined for anti-S1 IgG and IgA, anti-NCP IgG and neutralizing antibodies (nAb), and antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Results: Levels of all examined markers decreased significantly from 2 weeks to 6 months after second vaccination (anti-S1 IgG: 3744 ± 2571.4 vs. 253 ± 144 binding antibody units (BAU)/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 12 ± 0 vs. 1.98 ± 1.75 optical density (OD) ratio; nAb: 100\% ± 0\% vs. 82\% ± 19.3\%), the vast majority of participants retaining reactive levels of anti-S1 IgG (436/439) and anti-S1 IgA (334/439) at 6 months. Immune responses were stronger for mRNA-1273 compared with BNT162b2 (anti-S1 IgG: 429 ± 289 vs. 243 ± 143 BAU/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 5.38 ± 3.91 vs. 1.89 ± 1.53 OD ratio; nAb: 90.5\% ± 12.6\% vs. 81\% ± 19.3\%). There was no meaningful influence of sex and age on the examined markers. There was a strong correlation between anti-S1 IgG and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.91, p <0.0001), but not for for IgA and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.52, p <0.0001). There was a ceiling effect for the association between anti-S1 IgG titres and the inhibition of binding between S1 and ACE2. ANA prevalence was unchanged from 2 weeks to 6 months after the second vaccination (87/498 vs. 77/435), as were the median ANA titres (1:160 vs. 1:160). Discussion: Although the clinical consequences of decreasing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titres cannot be estimated with certainty, a lowered degree of clinical protection against SARS-CoV-2 is possible. Persistently stronger responses to mRNA-1273 suggest that it might confer greater protection than BNT162b2, even 6 months after the second vaccination. Neither examined vaccinations induced ANA within the examined time frame.",

author = "Robert Markewitz and Daniela Pauli and Justina Dargvainiene and Katja Steinhagen and Sarah Engel and Victor Herbst and Dorinja Zapf and Christina Kr{\"u}ger and Shahpour Sharifzadeh and Benjamin Schomburg and Frank Leypoldt and Jan Rupp and Siegfried G{\"o}rg and Ralf Junker and Wandinger, \{Klaus Peter\}",

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year = "2022",

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doi = "10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028",

language = "English",

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Markewitz, R , Pauli, D, Dargvainiene, J, Steinhagen, K, Engel, S, Herbst, V, Zapf, D, Krüger, C , Sharifzadeh, S, Schomburg, B, Leypoldt, F , Rupp, J , Görg, S, Junker, R & Wandinger, KP 2022, 'B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose', Clinical Microbiology and Infection, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 1024.e1-1024.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028

TY - JOUR

T1 - B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose

AU - Markewitz, Robert

AU - Pauli, Daniela

AU - Dargvainiene, Justina

AU - Steinhagen, Katja

AU - Engel, Sarah

AU - Herbst, Victor

AU - Zapf, Dorinja

AU - Krüger, Christina

AU - Sharifzadeh, Shahpour

AU - Schomburg, Benjamin

AU - Leypoldt, Frank

AU - Rupp, Jan

AU - Görg, Siegfried

AU - Junker, Ralf

AU - Wandinger, Klaus Peter

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - Objectives: To examine the state of B-cell immunity 6 months after the second vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to the state observed 2 weeks after vaccination. Methods: Sera of 439 participants, whose immune responses to two doses of an mRNA-based vaccine (BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273) were previously characterized, was examined for anti-S1 IgG and IgA, anti-NCP IgG and neutralizing antibodies (nAb), and antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Results: Levels of all examined markers decreased significantly from 2 weeks to 6 months after second vaccination (anti-S1 IgG: 3744 ± 2571.4 vs. 253 ± 144 binding antibody units (BAU)/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 12 ± 0 vs. 1.98 ± 1.75 optical density (OD) ratio; nAb: 100% ± 0% vs. 82% ± 19.3%), the vast majority of participants retaining reactive levels of anti-S1 IgG (436/439) and anti-S1 IgA (334/439) at 6 months. Immune responses were stronger for mRNA-1273 compared with BNT162b2 (anti-S1 IgG: 429 ± 289 vs. 243 ± 143 BAU/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 5.38 ± 3.91 vs. 1.89 ± 1.53 OD ratio; nAb: 90.5% ± 12.6% vs. 81% ± 19.3%). There was no meaningful influence of sex and age on the examined markers. There was a strong correlation between anti-S1 IgG and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.91, p <0.0001), but not for for IgA and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.52, p <0.0001). There was a ceiling effect for the association between anti-S1 IgG titres and the inhibition of binding between S1 and ACE2. ANA prevalence was unchanged from 2 weeks to 6 months after the second vaccination (87/498 vs. 77/435), as were the median ANA titres (1:160 vs. 1:160). Discussion: Although the clinical consequences of decreasing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titres cannot be estimated with certainty, a lowered degree of clinical protection against SARS-CoV-2 is possible. Persistently stronger responses to mRNA-1273 suggest that it might confer greater protection than BNT162b2, even 6 months after the second vaccination. Neither examined vaccinations induced ANA within the examined time frame.

AB - Objectives: To examine the state of B-cell immunity 6 months after the second vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to the state observed 2 weeks after vaccination. Methods: Sera of 439 participants, whose immune responses to two doses of an mRNA-based vaccine (BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273) were previously characterized, was examined for anti-S1 IgG and IgA, anti-NCP IgG and neutralizing antibodies (nAb), and antinuclear antibodies (ANA). Results: Levels of all examined markers decreased significantly from 2 weeks to 6 months after second vaccination (anti-S1 IgG: 3744 ± 2571.4 vs. 253 ± 144 binding antibody units (BAU)/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 12 ± 0 vs. 1.98 ± 1.75 optical density (OD) ratio; nAb: 100% ± 0% vs. 82% ± 19.3%), the vast majority of participants retaining reactive levels of anti-S1 IgG (436/439) and anti-S1 IgA (334/439) at 6 months. Immune responses were stronger for mRNA-1273 compared with BNT162b2 (anti-S1 IgG: 429 ± 289 vs. 243 ± 143 BAU/mL; anti-S1 IgA: 5.38 ± 3.91 vs. 1.89 ± 1.53 OD ratio; nAb: 90.5% ± 12.6% vs. 81% ± 19.3%). There was no meaningful influence of sex and age on the examined markers. There was a strong correlation between anti-S1 IgG and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.91, p <0.0001), but not for for IgA and the surrogate neutralization assay (rho = 0.52, p <0.0001). There was a ceiling effect for the association between anti-S1 IgG titres and the inhibition of binding between S1 and ACE2. ANA prevalence was unchanged from 2 weeks to 6 months after the second vaccination (87/498 vs. 77/435), as were the median ANA titres (1:160 vs. 1:160). Discussion: Although the clinical consequences of decreasing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titres cannot be estimated with certainty, a lowered degree of clinical protection against SARS-CoV-2 is possible. Persistently stronger responses to mRNA-1273 suggest that it might confer greater protection than BNT162b2, even 6 months after the second vaccination. Neither examined vaccinations induced ANA within the examined time frame.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85127798558

U2 - 10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028

DO - 10.1016/j.cmi.2022.02.028

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 35259531

AN - SCOPUS:85127798558

SN - 1198-743X

VL - 28

SP - 1024.e1-1024.e6

JO - Clinical Microbiology and Infection

JF - Clinical Microbiology and Infection

IS - 7

ER -

B-cell responses to vaccination with BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 6 months after second dose

Abstract

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UN SDGs

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