An Italian study, conducted by a team of researchers from several Italian and Spanish universities and research centers under the supervision of CoEHAR experts, shows that antibodies induced by the anti-Covid-19 vaccine decrease faster in smokers
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35038631/
Catania, 20 January 2022 – The protection offered by Covid-19 vaccines is based on the antibody response induced by the different types of Covid-19 vaccines available. The level of antibodies varies from person to person and, as with other vaccines, several factors – some of them adjustable – can contribute to this variability.
An epidemiological investigation, coordinated by the Research Center on Public Health (CESP) of the Bicocca University of Milan in close collaboration with CoEHAR experts, studied the association between smoking status and changes in antibodies, i.e. immunoglobulins G, IgG, produced by the vaccine in response to Sars-Cov-2 infection.
The study was conducted on 162 health professionals who, on a voluntary basis, underwent monthly serological tests to assess the trend of the antibody level in the six months following vaccination with Pfizer mRNA vaccine. A third group of participants smoked regularly during the study period: in this group, 60 days after vaccination, researchers found a decrease in the level of antibodies faster than in non-smokers group.
“Vaccines have proven to be an effective weapon against Covid-19. We know that the immunological response is influenced by various factors, such as a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, habits and lifestyles. We need further confirmation, but this study suggests that smoking contributes to weakening the immunoglobulin response with possible implications for the effectiveness of vaccination itself. And this may also be applied to other vaccines” explains Pietro Ferrara, epidemiologist at the Bicocca CESP.
Prof. Riccardo Polosa, Founder of CoEHAR, looks at the direct implications for smokers: “Scientific research in this particular historical period is making enormous efforts to find the most effective answers to fight Covid-19, but we cannot forget that there are many other diseases that lead to death and which we must consider resolving the modifiable risk factors, through proper prevention or switching to less harmful solutions. Among these, the habit of smoking. Our researchers are evaluating how much smoking affects the progression of Covid-19 and the impact that Sars-Cov-2 has on smokers: it is clear that this is a significant relationship that we cannot underestimate“.
THE STUDY
The study is part of a larger research project, called VASCO (Monitoring of the response to the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 vaccine in healthcare workers) coordinated by the CESP of the Bicocca University directed by Prof. Lorenzo Mantovani. The goal was to evaluate the response to the Pfizer vaccine in a general sample of over 400 subjects, confirming the safety and efficacy of the anti-COVID-19 vaccination.
The latest publication is the third in a series of research part of the VASCO project, and a result of the active collaboration with CoEHAR.
Specifically, this analysis focused on 162 subjects with a mean age of 43 years, 28 of which had had a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and in which the level of vaccine-induced antibodies and its trend in the short to medium term after vaccination were evaluated. All subjects were previously vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech’s BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine.
To examine the antibody response to the vaccine, the volunteers underwent a series of serological tests to assess the level of antibodies and how they change over time. The results were analyzed according to age, gender and previous Covid-19 infection.
Next, the researchers wondered whether smoking might play a role in the type and duration of the antibody response by analyzing the monthly antibody data. Serological analyzes have shown that their level begins to decrease as early as the second month after vaccination much faster than smokers.
To confirm and reinforce this finding, reasearchers are currently conducting a review of the available literature on the response to Covid-19 vaccines. CoEHAR researchers are convinced that the results will be indispensable to increase knowledge on the mechanisms of response to Covid-19 vaccination, but above all to raise awareness on smoking cessation.
Read the Italian version: LINK
