Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Responses up to 9 Months Post-Vaccination in Individuals with Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection Receiving Inactivated Vaccines

Jing Wang; Lei Huang; Nan Guo; Ya-Ping Yao; Chao Zhang; Ruonan Xu; Yan-Mei Jiao; Ya-Qun Li; Yao-Ru Song; Fu-Sheng Wang; Xing Fan

doi:10.3390/v15040917

Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Responses up to 9 Months Post-Vaccination in Individuals with Previous SARS-CoV-2 Infection Receiving Inactivated Vaccines

Viruses. 2023 Apr 4;15(4):917. doi: 10.3390/v15040917.

Authors

Jing Wang^{1

2}, Lei Huang², Nan Guo^{2

3}, Ya-Ping Yao^{4

5}, Chao Zhang², Ruonan Xu², Yan-Mei Jiao², Ya-Qun Li^{1

2}, Yao-Ru Song^{2

3}, Fu-Sheng Wang^{1

2}, Xing Fan²

Affiliations

¹ The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China.
² Department of Infectious Diseases, The Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Beijing 100039, China.
³ Chinese PLA Medical School, Beijing 100853, China.
⁴ The Second School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
⁵ Senior Department of Infectious Diseases, Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100039, China.

Abstract

Humoral immunity confers protection against COVID-19. The longevity of antibody responses after receiving an inactivated vaccine in individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection is unclear. Plasma samples were collected from 58 individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and 25 healthy donors (HDs) who had been vaccinated with an inactivated vaccine. The neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) and S1 domain-specific antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 wild-type and Omicron strains and nucleoside protein (NP)-specific antibodies were measured using a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Statistical analysis was performed using clinical variables and antibodies at different timepoints after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. NAbs targeting the wild-type or Omicron strain were detected in individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection at 12 months after infection (wild-type: 81%, geometric mean (GM): 20.3 AU/mL; Omicron: 44%, GM: 9.4 AU/mL), and vaccination provided further enhancement of these antibody levels (wild-type: 98%, GM: 53.3 AU/mL; Omicron: 75%, GM: 27.8 AU/mL, at 3 months after vaccination), which were significantly higher than those in HDs receiving a third dose of inactivated vaccine (wild-type: 85%, GM: 33.6 AU/mL; Omicron: 45%, GM: 11.5 AU/mL). The level of NAbs in individuals with previous infection plateaued 6 months after vaccination, but the NAb levels in HDs declined continuously. NAb levels in individuals with previous infection at 3 months post-vaccination were strongly correlated with those at 6 months post-vaccination, and weakly correlated with those before vaccination. NAb levels declined substantially in most individuals, and the rate of antibody decay was negatively correlated with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the blood at discharge. These results suggest that the inactivated vaccine induced robust and durable NAb responses in individuals with previous infection up to 9 months after vaccination.

Keywords: COVID-19 convalescent; Omicron variant; SARS-CoV-2; inactivated vaccine; longitudinal study; neutralizing antibodies.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
Antibody Formation
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Humans
SARS-CoV-2*
Vaccination
Vaccines, Inactivated

Substances

Vaccines, Inactivated
COVID-19 Vaccines
Antibodies, Viral
Antibodies, Neutralizing

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Guangzhou Laboratory Emergency Response Project (EKPG21-30-4), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFC0860900) and the Scientific Research Foundation of the Ministry of Health, General Logistics Department of PLA (413FZT1).