There response to the vaccine against Covid-19 is not unique but individual, influenced by everyone's genetic characteristics. This was revealed by a study conducted by a group of researchers from the Irccs Foundation “Carlo Besta” Neurological Institute (Fincb), from the Mario Negri Irccs Pharmacological Research Institute, from the Siena hospital and from the Irccs Casa Relief of Suffering Foundation which, guided by The Institute of Biomedical Technologies of the National Research Council of Segrate (Cnr-Itb) has joined forces to study the genetic basis of interindividual differences in rantibody response to anti-Covid-19 vaccination with the Bnt162b2 vaccine (Pfizer-Biontech).
What the study reveals
The study showed how some subjects with certain genetic variants in the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (property of the cells of a tissue to be recognized as their own by the organism and therefore not eliminated by the immune system), involved in the main mechanisms of defense of our immune system, produced different quantities of antibodies directed against the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus antigen. The study is available in open access on 'Communications Medicine'.
Researchers evaluated the correlation between millions of germline genetic variants and antibody levels in the serum of subjects vaccinated against Covid-19, 30 days after vaccination. In fact, since the beginning of the vaccination campaign, a substantial difference had been observed in the quantities of antibodies produced by vaccinated subjects. “As with most drugs, so too with vaccines each individual can respond in a more or less effective way and this is due, at least in part, to the individual genetic constitution”, explains Francesca Colombo, researcher at the Cnr-Itb, who led the research. “Our study involved 1,351 subjects (healthcare workers vaccinated in the first months of 2021, in the three hospital centers involved in the study) from whom a blood sample was taken for DNA extraction and a serum sample for antibody measurement anti-Sars-CoV-2 one month after administration of the second dose of the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine”.
“With the statistical analyzes carried out we discovered that a particular region of the genome, on chromosome 6, was significantly associated with antibody levels – continues Martina Esposito, first author of the study and research fellow at the Cnr-Itb – In this specific genomic region there are present genes that code for molecules present on the cell surface, involved in immune response mechanisms. These genes are very variable and different combinations exist. Our study highlighted that some combinations were associated with higher levels of antibodies, while others with lower levels, thus explaining from a genetic point of view the differences in response to vaccination observed between different individuals”.
“The mathematical models used and the statistical analyzes carried out to arrive at these results are very complex because the interaction between the genes and the genes themselves with the vaccine is complex. The expertise gained in genetic studies over many years of research conducted at Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza has allowed us to manage this complexity in the data, contributing to achieving these important results”, underlines Massimiliano Copetti, head of Biostatistics of the Irccs Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Foundation .
“The identification of specific Hla alleles that confer a predisposition to a high or low production of antibodies after the administration of the anti-Covid vaccine can now allow us to differentiate and personalize the vaccination campaign, providing each individual with the most suitable vaccine, that is, one that will allow him to produce as many antibodies as possible. This approach can also be extended to other vaccines designed against other diseases, with a view to precision vaccination supported by vaccinegenomics”, says Massimo Carella, geneticist biologist and deputy scientific director of the Irccs Foundation Home for the Relief of Suffering. The research was funded by the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai.
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