Attenuation of Antibody Titers from 3 to 6 Months after the Second Dose of the BNT162b2 Vaccine Depends on Sex, with Age and Smoking Risk Factors for Lower Antibody Titers at 6 Months
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Abstract
Objective: We aimed to determine antibody titers at six months and their percentage change from three to six months after the second dose of the BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech) and to explore clinical variables associated with titers in Japan. Methods: We enrolled 365 healthcare workers (250 women, 115 men) whose three-month antibody titers were analyzed in our previous study and whose blood samples were collected 183 ± 15 days after the second dose. Participant characteristics, collected previously, were used. The relationships of these factors with antibody titers at six months and percentage changes in antibody titers from three to six months were analyzed. Results: Median age was 44 years. Median antibody titer at six months was 539 U/mL. Older participants had significantly lower antibody titers (20s, 752 U/mL; 60s–70s, 365 U/mL). In age-adjusted analysis, smoking was the only factor associated with lower antibody titers. Median percentage change in antibody titers from three to six months was −29.4%. The only factor significantly associated with the percentage change in Ab titers was not age or smoking, but sex (women, −31.6%; men, −25.1%). Conclusion: The most important factors associated with lower antibody titers at six months were age and smoking, as at three months, probably reflecting their effect on peak antibody titers. However, the only factor significantly associated with the attenuation in Ab titers from three to six months was sex, which reduced the sex difference seen during the first three months. Antibody titers may be affected by different factors at different time points.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.14.21266334: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics IRB: The Ethics Committee of National Hospital Organization Utsunomiya National Hospital (No. 03-01; April 19
Consent: 9, 2021) approved this study, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment.Sex as a biological variable (250 women, 115 men). Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources To calculate Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and perform the Mann–Whitney U test, we used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 25). Statistical Package for the Social Sciencessuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)SPSSsuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)Results …
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.14.21266334: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Ethics IRB: The Ethics Committee of National Hospital Organization Utsunomiya National Hospital (No. 03-01; April 19
Consent: 9, 2021) approved this study, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants before enrollment.Sex as a biological variable (250 women, 115 men). Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources To calculate Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and perform the Mann–Whitney U test, we used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 25). Statistical Package for the Social Sciencessuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)SPSSsuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)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:Some limitations and possible sources of bias in this study include the following. First, the participants were limited in number and were all healthcare workers vaccinated at a single national hospital in Tochigi prefecture. Therefore, the results obtained in this study might not be generalizable on a wide scale, or even within Japan. Second, we excluded participants with Abs against nucleocapsid proteins on the presumption that they had previously been infected with COVID-19. However, some of these patients had slight increases in Ab titres against the spike protein but became negative for Ab titres against nucleocapsid proteins. One possibility is that they had not been infected with COVID-19 and that the Ab titres against the spike protein had been increased by individual differences. The other possibility is that the Ab titres against nucleocapsid proteins might have not increased due to a small viral load of SARS-CoV-2, even though they may still have been infected with COVID-19. To determine the chance of exposure to a small amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus, we analyzed Ab titres in participants who worked in the COVID-19 ward (data not shown). However, their Ab titres were not increased. If the excluded participants were by chance exposed to a small amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus, it may have been through daily life and not the COVID-19 ward. In addition, 5 participants had Ab titres exceeding 3000 U/mL and/or a greater than 80% rate of increase in Ab titres against the spike p...
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.
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- No protocol registration statement was detected.
Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.
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