Low But Recoverable Markers of Humoral Immune Response to BNT162b2 in Elderly LTCF Residents Five to Seven Months After Two-Dose Vaccination

  1. Marla Delbrück
  2. Sebastian Hoehl
  3. Tuna Toptan
  4. Barbara Schenk
  5. Katharina Grikscheit
  6. Melinda Metzler
  7. Eva Herrmann
  8. Sandra Ciesek

Reviewed by

Read the full article See related articles

Listed in

Log in to save this article

Abstract

The immune response is known to wane after vaccination with BNT162b2, but the role of age, morbidity and body composition is not well understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) for the elderly. All study participants had completed two-dose vaccination with BNT162b2 five to 7 months before sample collection. In 298 residents (median age 86 years, range 75–101), anti-SARS-CoV-2 rector binding IgG antibody (anti-RBD-IgG) concentrations were low and inversely correlated with age (mean 51.60 BAU/ml). We compared the results to Health Care Workers (HCW) aged 18–70 years ( n = 114, median age: 53 years), who had a higher mean anti-RBD-IgG concentration of 156.99 BAU/ml. Neutralization against the Delta variant was low in both groups (9.5% in LTCF residents and 31.6% in HCWs). The Charlson Comorbidity Index was inversely correlated with anti-RBD-IgG, but not the body mass index (BMI). A control group of 14 LTCF residents with known breakthrough infection had significant higher antibody concentrations (mean 3,199.65 BAU/ml), and 85.7% had detectable neutralization against the Delta variant. Our results demonstrate low but recoverable markers of immunity in LTCF residents five to 7 months after vaccination.

Article activity feed

  1. Version published to 10.3389/fragi.2022.883724
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.09.21266110: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: All participants were informed about the aim of the study, and written informed consent was obtained from either the study participants themselves or from the legal guardian in case one had been appointed.
    IRB: The study protocol has been approved by the ethics board of the University Hospital Frankfurt (No. 20-864) and has been registered on the German Clinical Trial Register (DRKS00025813).
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    All participants with a known and confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in the past or a positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody test were excluded from the main analysis.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid
    suggested: None
    HCWs with a known SARS-CoV-2 infection in the past or a positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody titer were excluded.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: None
    Markers of the humoral immune response: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Antibody Assay: To determine whether a previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 had occurred, serum samples were tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibodies.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibodies.
    suggested: None
    Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgG Antibody Assay: Serum samples were tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgG antibodies.
    anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike IgG
    suggested: None
    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    16 In brief, serum samples were serially diluted (1:2) and incubated with 4000 TCID50/mL of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 (B.1.617.2) for one hour prior to infection of CaCo-2 cells.
    CaCo-2
    suggested: CLS Cat# 300137/p1665_CaCo-2, RRID:CVCL_0025)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Markers of the humoral immune response: Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Antibody Assay: To determine whether a previous infection with SARS-CoV-2 had occurred, serum samples were tested for the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibodies.
    SARS-CoV-2
    suggested: (BioLegend Cat# 946101, RRID:AB_2892515)
    For this, we used the AdviseDx SARS-CoV-2 IgG II assay on the Abbott Alinity i® platform (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA).
    Abbott Laboratories
    suggested: None
    Statistical analysis: Data analysis was performed using RStudio Version 1.4.1717.
    RStudio
    suggested: (RStudio, RRID:SCR_000432)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Additional limitations of our study include that break-through infections in group 3 occurred at diverse time points before blood samples were taken. In addition to age, immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccines may be influenced and suppressed by several factors, including other medical conditions, and body composition with a very low or high BMI.18 Analyses of these factors in our study cohort will be provided in a subsequent publication.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.11.09.21266110v1 on medRxiv