On Oct. 13, 2022, researchers from the University of Oxford reported findings from a study exploring how certain genes can help generate a strong immune response following vaccination with two commonly used COVID-19 vaccines ﾖ identifying a particular gene associated with a high antibody response.

In their findings published in Nature Medicine, the researchers found people carrying an allele (version) of an HLA gene called HLA-DQB106 generated a higher antibody response than those who did not. The researchers also found that people carrying this gene (present in two out of every five people in the UK) were less likely to experience COVID-19 infection following vaccination than those who did not have it.

The HLA gene helps the immune system distinguish the body’s own proteins from foreign ones made by the likes of viruses and bacteria. The study provides some of the first evidence of a relationship between genetic factors and the way that people’s immune systems respond to COVID-19 vaccines, say the researchers.

The researchers initially analysed samples from 1,190 participants who enrolled in the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. To provide further evidence of their findings, they also:

• looked at DNA from 1,677 adults who had enrolled on Oxford’s Com-COV research programme looking at second-dose options for people who received either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines as a first dose; and
• examined DNA samples from children who had participated in clinical trials for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Researchers reported the following findings:

• Individuals carrying the HLA-DQB1*06 gene recorded higher antibody responses against the COVID vaccines at 28 days following the first vaccine.
• The same individuals were more likely to have a higher antibody response at all times following vaccination.
• Finally, including data from an average of 494 days of follow-up, in the initial trials the researchers found that the gene allele was present in around a third of individuals reporting symptoms of COVID-19 with a positive swab test for SARS-CoV-2, compared to the allele being present in 46% of those who did not report symptoms.