Omicron infection-associated T- and B-cell immunity in antigen-naive and triple-COVID-19-vaccinated individuals.
Front Immunol
; 14: 1166589, 2023.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2321884
ABSTRACT
Since early 2022, various Omicron variants have dominated the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in most countries. All Omicron variants are B-cell immune escape variants, and antibodies induced by first-generation COVID-19 vaccines or by infection with earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants largely fail to protect individuals from Omicron infection. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Omicron infections in triple-vaccinated and in antigen-naive individuals. We show that Omicron breakthrough infections occurring 2-3.5 months after the third vaccination restore B-cell and T-cell immune responses to levels similar to or higher than those measured 14 days after the third vaccination, including the induction of Omicron-neutralizing antibodies. Antibody responses in breakthrough infection derived mostly from cross-reacting B cells, initially induced by vaccination, whereas Omicron infections in antigen-naive individuals primarily generated B cells binding to the Omicron but not the Wuhan spike protein. Although antigen-naive individuals mounted considerable T-cell responses after infection, B-cell responses were low, and neutralizing antibodies were frequently below the limit of detection. In summary, the detection of Omicron-associated B-cell responses in primed and in antigen-naive individuals supports the application of Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccines, but calls into question their suitability if they also contain/encode antigens of the original Wuhan virus.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
/
Variants
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Immunol
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fimmu.2023.1166589
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