Waning of Humoral Immunity and the Influencing Factors after BNT162b2 Vaccination: A Cohort Study with a Latent Growth Curve Model in Fukushima
Yurie Kobashi,
Yoshitake Takebayashi,
Makoto Yoshida,
Takeshi Kawamura,
Yuzo Shimazu,
Yudai Kaneko,
Yoshitaka Nishikawa,
Aya Nakayama,
Morihito Takita,
Tianchen Zhao,
Chika Yamamoto,
Naomi Ito,
Masaharu Tsubokura
Affiliations
Yurie Kobashi
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Yoshitake Takebayashi
Department of Health Risk Communication, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Makoto Yoshida
Faculty of Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8605, Japan
Takeshi Kawamura
Isotope Science Centre, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
Yuzo Shimazu
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Yudai Kaneko
Laboratory for Systems Biology and Medicine, Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST), The University of Tokyo, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan
Yoshitaka Nishikawa
Department of Internal Medicine, Serireikai Group Hirata Central Hospital, Ishikawa District, Fukushima 963-8202, Japan
Aya Nakayama
Isotope Science Centre, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
Morihito Takita
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Tianchen Zhao
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Chika Yamamoto
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Naomi Ito
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Masaharu Tsubokura
Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima 960-1247, Japan
Measuring long-term antibody titer kinetics and subsequent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations are crucial for identifying vulnerable populations. Our aim was to determine the association between long-term antibody kinetics, including peak titers and factors, up to seven months post-second vaccination. A three-time antibody survey was conducted in 2021 among healthcare workers in Japan to investigate the changes in humoral immunity using chemiluminescence immunoassay. The study involved 205 participants who had received the second vaccine dose, completed the three-time survey, and were not infected with SARS-CoV-2. A latent growth curve model was used to identify factors affecting the peak titer and decreasing the antibody slope. Of the eligible participants, the mean titers of immunoglobulin G (IgG) against the spike (S) protein and the neutralizing activity 7 months after the second vaccination decreased to 154.3 (8.8% of the peak titer) and 62.1 AU/mL (9.5% of the peak titer), respectively. The IgG growth model showed that age significantly affected peak titers (p < 0.001); however, a significant difference was not found for the decreasing slope. Ultimately, aging adults had significantly low peak antibody titers; however, age was unrelated to the slope of log-transformed IgG against the S protein.
