Description of cell and humoral immune response after inactive and MRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

Background: The aim of our study is to compare the IgG antibody levels with interferon gamma, which is an indicator of cellular and humoral immunity, which occurs after CoronaVac and BioNTech vaccine applications. Material and Method: Our study included two doses of SARS-CoV-2 CoronaVac or BioNTech vaccine, and a maximum of 1-4 weeks passed after the second dose, and a total of 40 people aged 40-60 years were included. IFN-γ response with Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IGRA kit and IgG antibody response with SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant Reagent kit were studied from the sera of 18 people who had CoronaVac vaccine and 22 people who had BioNTech vaccine. Results: While a significant difference was found between the vaccine groups included in the study in terms of interferon gamma response (p:0.007), no significant difference was found in terms of IgG antibody response (p>0.05). The rate of those with positive interferon gamma response was found to be significantly higher in the BioNTech vaccine group (95.5%) than in the CoronaVac vaccine group (55.6%) (p<0.05). No significant difference was found in terms of interferon gamma values according to gender, age group, BMI, presence and number of additional diseases and supplement use of the volunteers participating in the study (p>0.05). Similarly, in terms of IgG antibody values, no significant difference was found between the data other than the number of additional diseases (p>0.05). When the two vaccine groups were compared according to the presence of additional disease, a significant difference was found in interferon gamma and IgG responses (p:0.001). Interferon gamma and IgG antibody values of individuals with and without additional disease in the CoronaVac vaccine group were found to be significantly lower than the values measured in the BioNTech vaccine group (p:0.016, p:0.001). Although antibody tests are widely used for vaccine response in COVID-19, Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IGRA test, which detects T cell activity, can also be used as a reliable method. KEYWORDS: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 vaccine, Interferon-gamma, antibody response, CoronaVac