Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 19;75(12):2053-2059.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac378.

A Single Dose of BNT162b2 Messenger RNA Vaccine Induces Airway Immunity in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Naive and Recovered Coronavirus Disease 2019 Subjects

Emanuela Martinuzzi  1 , Jonathan Benzaquen  2   3 , Olivier Guerin  4 , Sylvie Leroy  1   2 , Thomas Simon  1 , Marius Ilie  3   5 , Véronique Hofman  3   5 , Maryline Allegra  5 , Virginie Tanga  5 , Emeline Michel  4 , Jacques Boutros  2 , Charlotte Maniel  2 , Antoine Sicard  6 , Nicolas Glaichenhaus  1   6 , Cecil Czerkinsky  1 , Philippe Blancou  1 , Paul Hofman  3   5 , Charles H Marquette  2   3
Affiliations
Free PMC article

A Single Dose of BNT162b2 Messenger RNA Vaccine Induces Airway Immunity in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Naive and Recovered Coronavirus Disease 2019 Subjects

Emanuela Martinuzzi et al. Clin Infect Dis. .
Free PMC article

Abstract

Background: Mucosal antibodies can prevent virus entry and replication in mucosal epithelial cells and therefore virus shedding. Parenteral booster injection of a vaccine against a mucosal pathogen promotes stronger mucosal immune responses following prior mucosal infection compared with injections of a parenteral vaccine in a mucosally naive subject. We investigated whether this was also the case for the BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) messenger RNA vaccine.

Methods: Twenty recovered COVID-19 subjects (RCSs) and 23 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-naive subjects were vaccinated with, respectively, 1 and 2 doses of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine. Nasal epithelial lining fluid (NELF) and plasma were collected before and after vaccination and assessed for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgA antibody levels to Spike and for their ability to neutralize binding of Spike to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor. Blood was analyzed 1 week after vaccination for the number of Spike-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASCs) with a mucosal tropism.

Results: All RCSs had both nasal and blood SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies at least 90 days after initial diagnosis. In RCSs, a single dose of vaccine amplified preexisting Spike-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses in both NELF and blood against both vaccine homologous and variant strains, including Delta. These responses were associated with Spike-specific IgG and IgA ASCs with a mucosal tropism in blood. Nasal IgA and IgG antibody responses were lower in magnitude in SARS-CoV-2-naive subjects after 2 vaccine doses compared with RCSs after 1 dose.

Conclusions: Mucosal immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is higher in RCSs after a single vaccine dose compared with SARS-CoV-2-naive subjects after 2 doses.

Keywords: COVID-19 mRNA vaccine; SARS-CoV-2; mucosal immunity; secretory antibodies.

Conflict of interest statement

Potential Conflicts of Interest. V. H. reports receiving payment for serving on the BMS advisory board for mesothelioma and immunotherapy. M. I. reports grants from Fondation ARC paid to their institution and honoraria from the University of Saskatchewan Canada and Yoyal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. J. Benzaquen reports honoraria from Astra Zeneca. C. C. received honoraria for serving as a scientific adviser to Altimmune Inc. S. L. reports honoraria from Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, and Zambon; and took part in an Astra Zeneca advisory board. All other authors report no potential conflicts. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by