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Comment
. 2024 Jun 6;73(7):1222-1224.
doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2023-329810.

B and T cell responses to the BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine are not impaired in germ-free or antibiotic-treated mice

Todd Norton  1 , Miriam Anne Lynn  1   2 , Charné Rossouw  1   2 , Arunasingam Abayasingam  3   4 , Griffith Perkins  5   6   7 , Pravin Hissaria  6   7   8 , Rowena Anne Bull  3   4 , David John Lynn  9   2
Affiliations
Comment

B and T cell responses to the BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine are not impaired in germ-free or antibiotic-treated mice

Todd Norton et al. Gut. .
No abstract available

Keywords: COVID-19; ENTERIC BACTERIAL MICROFLORA; IMMUNE RESPONSE.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Depletion of the microbiome in antibiotic-treated (ABX) or germ-free (GF) mice does not impair adaptive immune responses to BNT162b2 vaccination. C57BL/6J mice were untreated (No ABX) or treated (ABX) with vancomycin in their drinking water for 7 days prior to administration of PBS (Mock) or two doses of 3 µg of BNT162b2 by intramuscular injection, 2 weeks apart. (A) S1-specific and (B) receptor-binding domain (RBD)-specific IgG antibodies in the serum of mock and vaccinated mice were assessed in the weeks following vaccination by ELISA. (C) Representative flow cytometry analysis of IFNγ and TNFα secretion by CD8+ T cells from ABX and No ABX mice after in vitro stimulation (4 hours) of splenocytes with an overlapping Spike peptide pool. Splenocytes were collected 6 weeks postboost. (D) The frequency of IFNγ- and TNFα-secreting CD8+ T cells among CD3+CD8+ cells. (E) S1-specific and (F) RBD-specific IgG antibodies in the serum of BNT162b2-vaccinated conventional (SPF), faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) and germ-free (GF) mice in the weeks following vaccination. The number of Spike-specific IgG antibody secreting cells in the (G) spleen and (H) bone marrow as determined by ELISpot assay. (I) Representative flow cytometry analysis of IFNγ and TNFα secretion by CD8+ T cells from SPF, FMT and GF mice after in vitro stimulation (4 hours) of splenocytes with an overlapping Spike peptide pool. Splenocytes were collected 6 weeks postboost. (J) The frequency of IFNγ-secreting and TNFα-secreting CD8+ T cells among CD3+CD8+ cells. (K) Representative flow cytometry analysis of Spike539-546-specific CD8+ T cells in the spleens of the indicated mice at 6 weeks postboost. (L) The frequency and total number of Spike539-546-specific CD8+ T cells in the spleens of the indicated mice. n=8 mice/group. Data are represented as mean±SEM. One-way ANOVA was used to assess statistical significance. ANOVA, analysis of variance; ns, not significant.
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References

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