Immune Netw.  2023 Apr;23(2):e19. 10.4110/in.2023.23.e19.

Pre-existing Immunity to Endemic Human Coronaviruses Does Not Affect the Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Spike in a Murine Vaccination Model

• Jeong AY
• Lee P
• Lee MS
• Kim DJ

• KMID: 2544672
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4110/in.2023.23.e19

Abstract

Endemic human coronaviruses (HCoVs) have been evidenced to be cross-reactive to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although a correlation exists between the immunological memory to HCoVs and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity, there is little experimental evidence for the effects of HCoV memory on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Here, we investigated the Ag-specific immune response to COVID-19 vaccines in the presence or absence of immunological memory against HCoV spike Ags in a mouse model. Pre-existing immunity against HCoV did not affect the COVID-19 vaccine-mediated humoral response with regard to Ag-specific total IgG and neutralizing Ab levels. The specific T cell response to the COVID-19 vaccine Ag was also unaltered, regardless of pre-exposure to HCoV spike Ags. Taken together, our data suggest that COVID-19 vaccines elicit comparable immunity regardless of immunological memory to spike of endemic HCoVs in a mouse model.

Keyword

Human coronavirus (HCoV); Pre-existing immunity; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 vaccine; Cross-reactivity