Oyebanji Oladayo A, Yin Anna, Sundheimer Nicholas, Ragavapuram Vaishnavi, Shea Patrick, Cao Yi, Chan Philip A, Nanda Aman, Tyagi Rohit, Raza Sakeena, Mujahid Nadia, Abul Yasin, Balazs Alejandro B, Bosch Jürgen, King Christopher L, Klein Sabra L, Gravenstein Stefan, Canaday David H, Wilson Brigid M
Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Aging Clin Exp Res. 2025 Mar 8;37(1):73. doi: 10.1007/s40520-025-02990-0.
Data suggest that antibody responses following COVID-19 vaccines are a correlate of protection. Some studies, including the clinical trials of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, did not stratify and evaluate whether antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines differed between the sexes or with aging. This gap in research is particularly relevant for older populations such as nursing home residents (NHR). We hypothesized that sex differences in vaccine-induced antibody responses may intersect with age and be diminished among older adults residing in nursing homes.
We analyzed serum samples from 638 NHRs collected serially after the primary two-dose series and three subsequent booster doses of mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. We analyzed anti-Spike IgG and neutralizing antibody titers to the Wuhan and Omicron BA.4/5 variant strains. Mixed-effects models predicting log-transformed titers were estimated to compare responses across vaccine doses, focusing on sex-differential responses. For detected post-dose sex differences, additional sample times were analyzed to assess the duration of the difference.
Following the primary series, female NHRs with a prior history of SARS-CoV-2 infection had significantly higher Wuhan anti-Spike antibodies and neutralizing antibody titers than male NHRs with differences persisting up to nine months post-vaccination. Subsequent monovalent booster doses and a bivalent booster dose eliminated this disparity. We did not detect any differential response to the Omicron BA.4/5 variant.
The blunting of sex differences in antibody response observed following the primary series by the 1st booster dose underscores the importance of booster vaccination in this population.
数据表明，新冠疫苗接种后的抗体反应是保护作用的一个相关因素。包括新冠mRNA疫苗临床试验在内的一些研究，没有分层评估新冠疫苗抗体反应在性别或随年龄增长方面是否存在差异。这一研究空白对于诸如养老院居民（NHR）等老年人群体尤为重要。我们假设疫苗诱导的抗体反应中的性别差异可能与年龄相关，并且在居住于养老院的老年人中会减弱。
我们分析了638名养老院居民在两剂次主要系列疫苗接种以及随后三剂次加强针mRNA SARS-CoV-2疫苗接种后连续采集的血清样本。我们分析了针对武汉株和奥密克戎BA.4/5变异株的抗刺突蛋白IgG和中和抗体滴度。通过估计预测对数转换滴度的混合效应模型，比较不同疫苗剂量的反应，重点关注性别差异反应。对于检测到的接种后性别差异，分析额外的采样时间以评估差异的持续时间。
在主要系列疫苗接种后，既往有SARS-CoV-2感染史的女性养老院居民的武汉株抗刺突蛋白抗体和中和抗体滴度显著高于男性养老院居民，这种差异在接种后持续长达九个月。随后的单价加强针和二价加强针消除了这种差异。我们未检测到对奥密克戎BA.4/5变异株的任何差异反应。
首剂加强针消除了主要系列疫苗接种后观察到的抗体反应中的性别差异，这突出了加强针接种在该人群中的重要性。
