Observational studyEBioMedicine2022
Mucosal immune response in BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine recipients.
Observational study in EBioMedicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 155 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
155 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 221 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mucosal immune response in biology, disease prevention and treatment.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Past SARS-CoV-2 infection protection against re-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Lancet (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Saliva is suitable for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detection after vaccination: A rapid systematic review.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Tolerability and immunogenicity of an intranasally-administered adenovirus-vectored COVID-19 vaccine: An open-label partially-randomised ascending dose phase I trial.EBioMedicine · 2022Trial
- Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of a Throat Spray with Selected Lactobacilli in COVID-19 Outpatients.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Trial
- Robust humoral and cellular recall responses to AZD1222 attenuate breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to unvaccinated.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Trial
- Anti-SARS-CoV-2 response in alveolar blood sample and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of individuals vaccinated with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2026Article
- Respiratory mucosal immunity: Biological functions, diseases, prevention and therapy.Genes & diseases · 2026Review
- Induction of mucosal immune responses against SARS-CoV-2: a heterologous intramuscular mRNA-LNP prime/pulmonary recombinant subunit pull vaccination strategy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The role of mucosal IgA in protection against influenza A H1N1 virus infection in a real-world setting.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination elicit distinct pharyngeal mucosal B cell responses in children.Nature communications · 2026Article
- mRNA COVID-19 vaccination induces minimal IgA in saliva in the absence of prior clinical or subclinical infection.Vaccine · 2026Article
- Mucosal Vaccine Development: From Adjuvant Design to Next-Generation Delivery Strategies.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- XBB 1.5 monovalent booster vaccination stimulates oral mucosal and systemic immune responses in healthy adults.Vaccine · 2026Article
- Floss-based vaccination targets the gingival sulcus for mucosal and systemic immunization.Nature biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Salivary IgG Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 as a Non-Invasive Assessment of Immune Response-Differences Between Vaccinated Children and Adults.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Surrogate virus neutralization test to determine salivary neutralizing antibody inhibition of ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD complex.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
- Kinetics of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG in saliva and serum post infection, and subsequent vaccination in South Africa.African journal of laboratory medicine · 2026Article
- Recombinant Bacillus subtilis spores expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induced humoral, mucosal, and cellular immunity in mice.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Itaconate reduces viral endocytosis by targeting Cys128 of the adaptor-related protein complex 1 gamma 1 subunit in the host, providing a novel target for antiviral drug development.Molecular biomedicine · 2025Article
95 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine is known to induce IgG neutralizing antibodies in serum protecting against COVID-19, it has not been studied in detail whether it could generate specific immunity at mucosal sites, which represent the primary route of entry of SARS-CoV-2.
methodsSamples of serum and saliva of 60 BNT162b2-vaccinated healthcare workers were collected at baseline, two weeks after the first dose and two weeks after the second dose. Anti-S1-protein IgG and IgA total antibodies titres and the presence of neutralizing antibodies against the Receptor Binding Domain in both serum and saliva were measured by quantitative and by competitive ELISA, respectively.
findingsComplete vaccination cycle generates a high serum IgG antibody titre as a single dose in previously infected seropositive individuals. Serum IgA concentration reaches a plateau after a single dose in seropositive individuals and two vaccine doses in seronegative subjects. After the second dose IgA level was higher in seronegative than in seropositive subjects. In saliva, IgG level is almost two orders of magnitude lower than in serum, reaching the highest values after the second dose. IgA concentration remains low and increases significantly only in seropositive individuals after the second dose. Neutralizing antibody titres were much higher in serum than in saliva.
interpretationThe mRNA BNT162b2 vaccination elicits a strong systemic immune response by drastically boosting neutralizing antibodies development in serum, but not in saliva, indicating that at least oral mucosal immunity is poorly activated by this vaccination protocol, thus failing in limiting virus acquisition upon its entry through this route.
fundingThis work was funded by the Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, and partially supported by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi (COVID-19 Insieme per la ricerca di tutti, 2020).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.