Abstract

Human milk contains SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination. These milk antibodies decrease several months post-vaccination. Whether booster immunization restores human milk antibody levels, potentially offering prolonged passive immunity for the infant, remains unknown. In this prospective follow-up study, we investigated the longitudinal SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody response in human milk of 26 lactating women who received a COVID-19 booster dose of an mRNA-based vaccine. Moreover, we evaluated whether the booster-induced human milk antibody response differs for participants who received a similar or different vaccine type in their primary vaccination series. All participants (100%) who received a homologous booster vaccination showed SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in their milk. Heterologous booster vaccination resulted in milk conversion for 9 (69%) and 13 (100%) participants for IgA and IgG respectively. Findings of this study indicate that both homologous and heterologous boosting schedules have the potential to enhance SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA and IgG in human milk.

The longitudinal SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody response in human milk of lactating women receiving an mRNA-based booster vaccine indicates that both homologous and heterologous boosters enhance SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in human milk.

Details

Title
Comparing the SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody response in human milk after homologous and heterologous booster vaccinations
Author
Mulleners, Sien J. 1 ; Juncker, Hannah G. 2 ; Ruhé, Eliza J. M. 1 ; Korosi, Aniko 3 ; van Goudoever, Johannes B. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; van Gils, Marit J. 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; van Keulen, Britt J. 1 

1  Amsterdam University Medical Center (location VUmc), Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam Reproduction & Development Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.509540.d) (ISNI:0000 0004 6880 3010) 
2  Amsterdam University Medical Center (location VUmc), Emma Children’s Hospital, Amsterdam Reproduction & Development Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.509540.d) (ISNI:0000 0004 6880 3010); Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.7177.6) (ISNI:0000000084992262) 
3  Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.7177.6) (ISNI:0000000084992262) 
4  Amsterdam University Medical Center (location AMC), Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.509540.d) (ISNI:0000 0004 6880 3010) 
Pages
100
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
23993642
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04455-4
ProQuest document ID
2768990438
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.