Poster abstracts
Poster number 85 submitted by Jack Evans
Neutralizing antibody responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination wane over time and are boosted by breakthrough infection
John P. Evans (Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology), Cong Zeng (Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University), Claire Carlin, Joseph S. Bednash, Rama Mallampalli, Richard J. Gumina (Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University), Gerard Lozanski (Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University), Eugene M. Oltz (Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity), Linda J. Saif, Shan-Lu Liu (Viruses and Emerging Pathogens Program, Infectious Disease Institute, The Ohio State Unversity)
Abstract:
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in nearly 400 million cases and over 5 million deaths. Unprecedented efforts from the scientific community led to the development of two mRNA vaccines, among others, that have helped to control the worst impacts of the pandemic. However, the durability of protection for these vaccines and how they compare to immunity from natural infection, remain critical concerns. Additionally, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) which exhibit resistance to vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies (nAbs), continue to threaten the efficacy of the mRNA vaccines. To address these concerns we developed a highly sensitive pseudotyped lentivirus-base virus neutralization assay to examine nAb titers in COVID-19 patients and mRNA vaccine recipients. With this we demonstrate that mRNA vaccinated health care workers (HCWs) reliably exhibit strong nAb response. However, the VOCs exhibit varying degrees of nAb escape with the Omicron variant exhibiting near complete escape from 2-dose mRNA vaccine-induced nAbs, and 2-dose induced nAbs wane substantially 6 months after vaccination against all VOCs. Following booster vaccination 83.3% of HCWs exhibited detectable nAb titers against Omicron, indicating a need for booster vaccine administration for strong protection from Omicron. Additional examination of sera from Delta and Omicron COVID-19 patients demonstrated strong resistance of Omicron to Delta patient sera but sensitivity to Omicron patient sera. Omicron variant sub-lineages were also examined to discern any differences in sensitivity to mRNA-vaccine- or Omicron-infection-induced nAbs. Overall, our results serve to inform the administration of booster doses and any need for a reformulation of mRNA vaccines.
References:
Evans, J.P., Zeng, C., Carlin, C., Lozanski, G., Saif, L.J., Oltz, E.M., Gumina, R.J. and Liu, S.L., 2022. Neutralizing antibody responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination wane over time and are boosted by breakthrough infection. Science Translational Medicine, p.eabn8057.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, Neutralizing Antibody, Variants of Concern