tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Med Virol
. 2024 Jan;96(1):e29417.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.29417. Immune escape of BA.2.86 is comparable to XBB subvariants from the plasma of BA.5- and BA.5-XBB-convalescent subpopulations
Xiaoyun Yang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuan Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ziteng Liang[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Tingting Cui[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daxiang Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Guichang Li[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Hao Xu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Siyi Liu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Nanshan Zhong[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Weijin Huang[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Zhongfang Wang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
The EG.5.1 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been prevalent since mid-July 2023 in the United States and China. The variant BA.2.86 has become a major concern because it is 34 mutations away from the parental variant BA.2 and >30 mutations from XBB.1.5. There is an urgent need to evaluate whether the immunity of the population and current vaccines are protective against EG.5.1 and BA.2.86. Based on a cohort of two breakthrough-infected groups, the levels of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against different subvariants were measured using pseudovirus-based neutralization assays. XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 are comparably immune-evasive from neutralization by the plasma of individuals recovered from BA.5 infection (BA.5-convalescent) or XBB.1.9.2/XBB.1.5 infection following BA.5 infection (BA.5-XBB-convalescent). NAb levels against EG.5.1 and BA.2.86 subvariants remained >120 geometric mean titers (GMTs) in BA.5-XBB-convalescent individuals 2 months postinfection but were <40 GMTs in BA.5-convalescent individuals. Furthermore, the XBB-targeting messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine RQ3033 induced higher levels of NAbs against XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 than against BA.5-XBB infection. The results suggest that BA.2.86 and EG.5.1 are unlikely to cause more severe concerns than the currently circulating XBB subvariants and that the XBB.1.5-targeting mRNA vaccine tested has promising protection against EG.5.1 and BA.2.86.
Keywords: EG.5.1 variant; SARS-CoV-2; neutralizing antibody; next-generation vaccine.
. 2024 Jan;96(1):e29417.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.29417. Immune escape of BA.2.86 is comparable to XBB subvariants from the plasma of BA.5- and BA.5-XBB-convalescent subpopulations
Xiaoyun Yang[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yuan Wang[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ziteng Liang[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Tingting Cui[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Daxiang Chen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Guichang Li[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Hao Xu[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Siyi Liu[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Nanshan Zhong[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Weijin Huang[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Zhongfang Wang[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 38258345
- DOI: 10.1002/jmv.29417
The EG.5.1 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been prevalent since mid-July 2023 in the United States and China. The variant BA.2.86 has become a major concern because it is 34 mutations away from the parental variant BA.2 and >30 mutations from XBB.1.5. There is an urgent need to evaluate whether the immunity of the population and current vaccines are protective against EG.5.1 and BA.2.86. Based on a cohort of two breakthrough-infected groups, the levels of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against different subvariants were measured using pseudovirus-based neutralization assays. XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 are comparably immune-evasive from neutralization by the plasma of individuals recovered from BA.5 infection (BA.5-convalescent) or XBB.1.9.2/XBB.1.5 infection following BA.5 infection (BA.5-XBB-convalescent). NAb levels against EG.5.1 and BA.2.86 subvariants remained >120 geometric mean titers (GMTs) in BA.5-XBB-convalescent individuals 2 months postinfection but were <40 GMTs in BA.5-convalescent individuals. Furthermore, the XBB-targeting messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine RQ3033 induced higher levels of NAbs against XBB.1.5, EG.5.1, and BA.2.86 than against BA.5-XBB infection. The results suggest that BA.2.86 and EG.5.1 are unlikely to cause more severe concerns than the currently circulating XBB subvariants and that the XBB.1.5-targeting mRNA vaccine tested has promising protection against EG.5.1 and BA.2.86.
Keywords: EG.5.1 variant; SARS-CoV-2; neutralizing antibody; next-generation vaccine.