IntroductionThe rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has posed a challenge to long-lasting immunity against the novel virus. Apart from neutralizing function, binding antibodies induced by vaccination or infection play an important role in containing the infection.MethodsTo determine the proportion of wild-type (WT)–generated antibodies recognizant of more recent variants, plasma samples from either SARS-CoV-2 WT-infected (n = 336) or double-mRNA (Comirnaty)–vaccinated individuals (n = 354, age and sex matched to the convalescent group) were analyzed for binding antibody capacity against the S1 protein of the BA.1 omicron variant.ResultsOverall, 38.59% (95% CI, 37.01– 40.20) of WT-generated antibodies recognized Omicron BA.1 S1 protein [28.83% (95% CI, 26.73–30.91) after infection and 43.46% (95% CI, 41.61–45.31) after vaccination; p < 0.001]. Although the proportion of WT-generated binding and neutralizing antibodies also binding to BA.1 is substantially reduced, the avidity of the remaining antibodies against the Omicron variant was non-inferior to that of the ancestral virus: Omicron: 39.7% (95% CI: 38.1–41.3) as compared to the avidity to WT: 27.0% (95% CI, 25.5–28.4), respectively (p < 0.001). Furthermore, we noticed a modestly yet statistically significant higher avidity toward the Omicron epitopes among the vaccinated group (42.2%; 95% CI, 40.51–43.94) as compared to the convalescent counterparts (36.4%; 95% CI, 33.42–38.76) (p = 0.003), even after adjusting for antibody concentration.DiscussionOur results suggest that an aspect of functional immunity against the novel strain was considerably retained after WT contact, speculatively counteracting the impact of immune evasion toward neutralization of the strain. Higher antibody levels and cross-binding capacity among vaccinated individuals suggest an advantage of repeated exposure in generating robust immunity.

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尽管 SARS-COV-2 野生型感染或 mRNA 双重疫苗接种后 Omicron 的交叉结合和交叉中和抗体水平降低，但仍保持亲和力

简介 SARS-CoV-2 的快速进化对这种新型病毒的持久免疫力提出了挑战。除了中和功能外，疫苗接种或感染诱导的结合抗体在遏制感染方面也发挥着重要作用。方法为确定野生型 (WT) 生成的可识别较新变体的抗体的比例，来自 SARS-CoV-2 的血浆样本分析 WT 感染 (n = 336) 或双 mRNA (Comirnaty) 疫苗接种个体（n = 354，年龄和性别与康复组匹配）针对 BA.1 omicron 变体的 S1 蛋白的结合抗体能力。结果总体而言，WT 生成的抗体中有 38.59% (95% CI, 37.01–40.20) 识别 Omicron BA.1 S1 蛋白 [感染后为 28.83% (95% CI, 26.73–30.91)，43.46% (95% CI, 41.61–45.31) ) 接种疫苗后；p＜0.001]。尽管 WT 生成的结合和中和抗体也与 BA.1 结合的比例大幅减少，但针对 Omicron 变体的剩余抗体的亲合力并不逊色于祖先病毒：Omicron：39.7%（95% CI ：38.1–41.3）与 WT 亲和力相比：分别为 27.0%（95% CI，25.5–28.4）（p < 0.001）。此外，我们注意到，与恢复期组 (36.4%; 95% CI, 33.42-38.76) 相比，接种组 (42.2%; 95% CI, 40.51-43.94) 对 Omicron 表位的亲和力适度但具有统计学意义。 p = 0.003），即使在调整抗体浓度后也是如此。讨论我们的结果表明，在 WT 接触后，针对新菌株的功能性免疫的一个方面在很大程度上得到保留，推测抵消了免疫逃避对菌株中和的影响。接种疫苗的个体中较高的抗体水平和交叉结合能力表明重复接触在产生强大免疫力方面具有优势。