Sars-Cov-2 antibody titer 3 months post-vaccination is affected by age, gender, smoking and vitamin D

Abstract

Context Vaccination against Sars-Cov-2 is in full swing during COVID-19 pandemic. One of the efficient methods to evaluate response to vaccination is the assessment of humoral immunity by measuring Sars-Cov-2 antibody titer. Identification of factors that affect the humoral response is important so as to ameliorate the responses to vaccination or identify vulnerable groups that may need vaccination boosters. Objective We investigated the effect of anthropometric parameters (age, BMI), smoking, diabetes, statin use hypertension and levels of 25(OH)D and DHEAS to the Sars-Cov-2 antibody titer. Methods In this longitudinal observational cohort study 712 subjects were tested for Sars-Cov-2 antibodies 3 months after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify which factors are associated with the antibody titer. Results We identified age to be negatively associated with antibody titer (p=0.0073) and male sex (p=0.0008). However, interaction of age and gender was significant (p<0.0001) highlighting the finding that only after the age of 40 years men had lower antibody levels than women. DHEAS, an aging marker, was not associated with the antibody titer. Smoking was also associated with low antibody titer (p=0.0008) while overweight or obese subjects did not have different antibody response compared to normal weight individuals. Although diabetic and hypertensive subjects trended towards lower antibody titer, this association was not statistically significant. Replete vitamin D levels were associated with higher antibody titers (p=0.00422). Conclusions Age, male sex and smoking negatively affects antibody titer while 25(OH)D is associated with increased Sars-Cov-2 antibody titers.

Early and Longitudinal Humoral Response to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA BNT162b2 Vaccine in Healthcare Workers: Significance of BMI, Adipose Tissue and Muscle Mass on Long-Lasting Post-Vaccinal Immunity

“…Similar observations were presented by Tsatsakis et al The results of their research showed that non-smokers had higher titers than smokers [ 70 ]. Our findings also agree with a recent study by Parthymou et al, who, based on a 3-month observation after full vaccination against COVID-19, indicated that smoking is associated with a lower humoral response [ 71 ]. Likewise, those observations confirm Nomura et al: in their study, three months after the second dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine, antibody titers were significantly lower in current smokers than in ex-smokers [ 72 ].…”

Micronutrients to Support Vaccine Immunogenicity and Efficacy

“…In this study, the authors found no effect of vitamin D status on the IgG response to vaccination through 21 weeks after the second dose [45]. In contrast, data from a longitudinal study of 712 subjects in Greece (mean age 51 years; 62% female) found that replete vitamin D levels were significantly associated with higher antibody titers 3 months post-vaccination with BNT162b2 [46]. Likewise, recently available preliminary data from Jolliffe et al also demonstrate an independent association between vitamin D supplement use and enhanced humoral responses to COVID-19 vaccination [47].…”

The Effect of Smoking on Humoral Response to COVID-19 Vaccines: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies

“…Another report did not specify the enrolled population. In 17 out of 23 studies, current smokers showed significant lower antibody titre, and in a few reports, highlighted a more rapid lowering of the vaccine-elicited IgG compared with nonsmokers [19,20,[26][27][28][29][30]32,34,[36][37][38][39][40][41]43,44]. In particular, accelerated antibody decline was reported in the prospective assessments by Ferrara et al [20], Zhang et al [27], and Malavazos et al [30].…”