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. 2023 Apr 20;13(4):689.
doi: 10.3390/jpm13040689.

Immune Response and Transplacental Antibody Transfer in Pregnant Women after COVID-19 Vaccination

Chiara Lubrano  1 , Alessandro Mancon  2 , Gaia Maria Anelli  1 , Gloria Gagliardi  1 , Roberta Corneo  1 , Micol Bianchi  1 , Chiara Coco  1 , Giulia Dal Molin  3 , Michele Vignali  3 , Irene Schirripa  4 , Nicoletta Di Simone  4   5 , Giulia Pavone  6   7 , Antonio Pellegrino  7 , Maria Rita Gismondo  1   2 , Valeria Maria Savasi  1   6 , Irene Cetin  1   8
Affiliations

Immune Response and Transplacental Antibody Transfer in Pregnant Women after COVID-19 Vaccination

Chiara Lubrano et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

COVID-19 infection is associated with increased risk of pregnancy complications, making vaccination during pregnancy critical for mother-neonate dyads. Few data, often with an unrepresentative sample size, are available on SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-induced humoral and cell-mediated response. Here, we evaluated anti-S antibody and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production elicited by SARS-CoV-2 immunization in maternal and neonatal plasma. Pregnant women (n = 230) were prospectively enrolled and classified as unvaccinated (n = 103) and vaccinated (n = 127); after serological screening for previous infections, assays were performed on 126 dyads, 15 mothers and 17 newborns. Positive anti-S antibodies were found in most of the vaccinated subjects, regardless of timespan between immunization and delivery (range: 7-391 days). A total of 89 of 92 vaccinated women showed a broad response to COVID-19 immunization and highly effective placental transfer, as attested by anti-S positive rates (maternal = 96.7%, cord = 96.6%). Most of our subjects had indeterminate results in an IGRA assay, preventing a conclusive evaluation of IFN-γ production. Indeed, pregnancy-related hormonal changes may influence T-cell response with an impact on IFN-γ production. Positive pregnancy and perinatal outcomes reinforce the evidence that the anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunization is effective and well-tolerated in pregnant women and also protective for the fetus/neonate, even though it was not possible to define the related IFN-γ production and role.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T-cell response; humoral response; immunization in pregnancy; transplacental antibody transfer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study design.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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