Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40872959›Full record

ArticleVaccines2025

Exploring TREC and KREC Levels in Nursing Home Residents and Staff and Their Association with SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response After Vaccination.

Eline Meyers, Natalja Van Biesen, Liselore De Rop, Tine De Burghgraeve, Marina Digregorio, Laëtitia Buret, Samuel Coenen, Beatrice Scholtes, Jan Y Verbakel, Stefan Heytens and 1 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Vaccines, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Eline MeyersDepartment of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-3549-9548
Natalja Van BiesenDepartment of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.ORCID 0009-0006-1430-2327
Liselore De RopLUHTAR, Leuven Unit for HTA Research, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-0111-9508
Tine De BurghgraeveLUHTAR, Leuven Unit for HTA Research, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-0561-6504
Marina DigregorioResearch Unit of Primary Care and Health, Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-5317-7788
Laëtitia BuretResearch Unit of Primary Care and Health, Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-5653-615X
Samuel CoenenDepartment of Family Medicine & Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-1238-8052
Beatrice ScholtesResearch Unit of Primary Care and Health, Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0001-5274-822X
Jan Y VerbakelLUHTAR, Leuven Unit for HTA Research, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-7166-7211
Stefan HeytensDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-1097-4987
Piet CoolsDepartment of Diagnostic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0003-2980-5307

Funding

Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) 1SDN2524N
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundT-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and kappa-deleting recombination excision circles (KRECs) are markers of recent thymic and bone marrow output, respectively. As they have previously been associated with immunosenescence, we aimed to investigate their association with anti-spike SARS-CoV-2 (S1RBD) IgG antibody response after COVID-19 vaccination in nursing home residents (NHRs) and staff (NHS).

methodsWe measured TREC and KREC levels and S1RBD IgG antibody levels from dried blood spots (DBSs) using in-house qPCRs and a commercial ELISA kit, respectively, in 200 participants (50 NHRs and 150 NHS). DBSs were collected in April 2021, approximately two months after primary course COVID-19 vaccination (BNT162b2). We assessed the association between TREC and KREC as dependent variables and age, sex, infection-priming status, and post-vaccination S1RBD-specific IgG concentrations as independent variables by simple and multiple linear regression.

resultsTREC and KREC levels were significantly lower in NHRs compared with NHS and were negatively correlated with age (

conclusionsIn our study population, TREC and KREC levels decreased with age and were statistically significantly lower in NHRs than NHS. They were, however, not associated with the antibody response after COVID-19 vaccination. Yet, additional research is warranted to explore their potential relevance in cellular immune responses or in combination with other biomarkers of immune function.

Indexed as

COVID-19 vaccinationKRECnursing home residentsSARS-CoV-2 antibodiesTREC

Identifiers

PMID40872959
PMCPMC12390529

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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.