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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1447317
This article is part of the Research Topic Community Series in Development and Harmonization of Assays and Models to Assess Immunogenicity and Correlates of Protection of vaccines against pathogens causing respiratory infections: Volume 2 View all articles

Evaluation of inflammation biomarkers and their association with anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers in healthcare workers vaccinated with BNT162B2

Provisionally accepted
Ester Leno Duran Ester Leno Duran 1Esther Serrano-Conde Esther Serrano-Conde 2Ana Salas-Rodríguez Ana Salas-Rodríguez 3Inmaculada Salcedo-Bellido Inmaculada Salcedo-Bellido 3Rocío Barrios-Rodríguez Rocío Barrios-Rodríguez 3Ana Fuentes Ana Fuentes 2Laura Viñuela Laura Viñuela 2Federico Garcia Federico Garcia 2Pilar Requena Pilar Requena 3,4,5*
  • 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
  • 2 San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada, Spain
  • 3 Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
  • 4 Granada Biosanitary Research Institute (ibs.GRANADA), Granada, Spain
  • 5 Center for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health Network, Carlos III Health Institute (ISCIII), Madrid, Madrid, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Vaccine-induced immunity against COVID-19 generates antibody and lymphocyte responses. However, variability in antibody titers has been observed after vaccination, and the determinants of a better response should be studied. The main objective of this investigation was to analyze the inflammatory biomarker response induced in healthcare workers vaccinated with BNT162b2, and its association with anti-Spike (a SARS-CoV-2 antigen) antibodies measured throughout a 1-year follow-up.Methods: Anti-spike antibodies and 92 biomarkers were analyzed in serum, along with sociodemographic and clinical variables collected by interview or exploration.Results: In our study, four biomarkers (ADA, IL-17C, CCL25 and CD8α) increased their expression after the first vaccine dose; and 8 others (uPA, IL-18R1, EN-RAGE, CASP-8, MCP-2, TNFβ, CD5 and CXCL10) decreased their expression. Age, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, and prevalent diseases were associated with some of these biomarkers. Furthermore, higher baseline levels of T-cell surface glycoprotein CD6 and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were associated with lower mean antibody titers at followup, while levels of monocyte chemotactic protein 2 (MCP-2) had a positive association with antibody levels. Age and BMI were positively related to baseline levels of MCP-2 (=0.02, 95%CI 0.00-0.04, p=0.036) and HGF ( =0.03, 95%CI 0.00-0.06, p=0.039), respectively. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that primary BNT162b2 vaccination had a positive effect on the levels of several biomarkers related to T cell function, and a negative one on some others related to cancer or inflammatory processes. In addition, a higher level of MCP-2 and lower levels of HGF and CD6 were found to be associated with higher anti-Spike antibody titer following vaccination.

    Keywords: COVID-19, BTN162b2, SARS-CoV-2, anti-spike antibodies, Inflammation biomarker

    Received: 11 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Leno Duran, Serrano-Conde, Salas-Rodríguez, Salcedo-Bellido, Barrios-Rodríguez, Fuentes, Viñuela, Garcia and Requena. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Pilar Requena, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.