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. 2022 Apr 12:13:817345.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.817345. eCollection 2022.

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Vaccinated Health Care Workers Analyzed by Coronavirus Antigen Microarray

Sina Hosseinian  1 , Kathleen Powers  1 , Milind Vasudev  1 , Anton M Palma  2 , Rafael de Assis  3 , Aarti Jain  3 , Peter Horvath  2 , Paramveer S Birring  1 , Rana Andary  1 , Connie Au  1 , Brandon Chin  1 , Ghali Khalil  1 , Jenny Ventura  1 , Madeleine K Luu  4 , Cesar Figueroa  5 , Joshua M Obiero  3 , Emily Silzel  3 , Rie Nakajima  3 , William Thomas Gombrich  4 , Algis Jasinskas  3 , Frank Zaldivar  2   6 , Sebastian Schubl  1   5 , Philip L Felgner  3 , Saahir Khan  7 ; Specimen Collection Group
Affiliations

Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Vaccinated Health Care Workers Analyzed by Coronavirus Antigen Microarray

Sina Hosseinian et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Recent studies provide conflicting evidence on the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 immunity induced by mRNA vaccines. Here, we aim to quantify the persistence of humoral immunity following vaccination using a coronavirus antigen microarray that includes 10 SARS-CoV-2 antigens. In a prospective longitudinal cohort of 240 healthcare workers, composite SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody levels did not wane significantly over a 6-month study period. In the subset of the study population previously exposed to SARS-CoV-2 based on seropositivity for nucleocapsid antibodies, higher composite anti-spike IgG levels were measured before the vaccine but no significant difference from unexposed individuals was observed at 6 months. Age, vaccine type, or worker role did not significantly impact composite IgG levels, although non-significant trends towards lower antibody levels in older participants and higher antibody levels with Moderna vaccine were observed at 6 months. A small subset of our cohort were classified as having waning antibody titers at 6 months, and these individuals were less likely to work in patient care roles and more likely to have prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; antibodies; healthcare workers; mRNA; microarray; serology; vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The coronavirus antigen microarray is intellectual property of the Regents of the University of California that is licensed for commercialization to Nanommune Inc. (Irvine, CA), a private company for which PF is the largest shareholder and several co-authors (RA, AaJ, RN, and SK) also own shares. Nanommune Inc. has a business partnership with Sino Biological Inc. (Beijing, China) which expressed and purified the antigens used in this study. KP is invested in mutual funds that have either Pfizer or Moderna holdings: American Funds Fundamental, Federated Hermes Kaufman Fund, and Fidelity Biotechnology Fund. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Composite and individual SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels over time for the longitudinal cohort. Background lines (left) representing individual study participants and thick solid line representing mean antibody level at baseline, 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months with error bars representing 95% confidence intervals with heatmap and individual antibody plots.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Composite SARS-CoV-2 IgG levels over time, with background lines representing individual study participants and thick solid line representing mean antibody level at baseline, 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months with error bars representing 95% confidence intervals, compared for subgroups divided by (A) sex, (B) age, (C) HCW patient care role, (D) race, (E) obesity/diabetes, (F) hypertension, (G) vaccine type, and (H) previous exposure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SARS-CoV-2 reactivity after 6 months. In blue, are individuals for whom the reactivity did not significantly wane when compared to the day 80 time point. In red are samples for whom the reactivity has declined (p < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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