Antibody response to BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in gingival crevicular fluid

This prospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the antibody responses in non-invasive gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and unstimulated whole saliva to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike unit 1 receptor-binding domain (S1-RBD) protein following administration of the mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine.

This longitudinal study recruited 37 participants with no prior COVID-19 exposure (eight people recruited prior to the COVID-19 pandemic - labeled pre-COVID, 16 vaccinated and 13 non-vaccinated participants). An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine antibody levels against S1-RBD in saliva (n=90) and GCF (n=80) samples obtained at 1 and 3 weeks after dose 1, and 3 days, 7 days, and 3 weeks after dose 2. To determine previous SARS-CoV-2 infection status, anti-nucleocapsid (N) Ig levels were determined in samples from the pre-COVID (saliva as reference), non-vaccinated (saliva and GCF), and vaccinated (saliva and GCF) participants at 1-week post-dose 1 using ELISA.

Salivary levels of anti-N antibodies measured in samples from vaccinated and nonvaccinated participants were comparable to those in pre-COVID saliva samples collected between October 2018 and September 2019, thus confirming that all study participants had no prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, the levels of anti-S1-RBD antibodies peaked at 3 weeks after dose 2 in both saliva and GCF for all three immunoglobulin isotypes. Notably, the concentration of anti-S1-RBD antibodies in GCF was significantly higher than in saliva at all time points.

This study establishes GCF and saliva as viable alternative non-invasive sources to monitor levels of antibodies following vaccination, with GCF demonstrating feasibility as a biofluid source for the detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 S1-RBD antigen.