The Texas Biomedical Research Institute, in alliance with the University of Verona in Italy, recently discovered that the COVID-19 antibody levels are higher for women and children compared to men and people whose age is above 65 years old.
As indicated in a Mail Online report, the new study shows a person's gender, and age determines the strength of antibody levels after they were given two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Participants of the study under 65 years old were found to have more than double the antibody levels, compared to "those above the threshold," the study specified.
Nevertheless, the research, which is believed to be the largest globally, on the prevalence of study over time, also revealed levels declined by half within six months for everyone, regardless of their gender and age.
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Vaccine Efficacy Regardless of Gender and Age
According to physician-scientist and postdoctoral researcher Michael Henry, MD, from the Texas Biomed, who co-led the research, while it's seen how well vaccines have helped in keeping people out of the hospital and avoiding life-threatening disease, levels of the antibody are rapidly decreasing in all people regardless of their age and gender.
Henry explained, their study provides further evidence that booster shots for adult individuals will be essential to keep antibody levels high so "we continue to mount an effective immune response" in the fight against COVID-19 infection and prevent fatalities due to the disease.
Such findings are based on a group of more than 780 healthcare workers in Italy with ages ranging from 21 to 75 years who received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The study investigators measured antibody levels in participants before their vaccination, after their second jab, and at one, three, and six months from their second inoculation.
In this study, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Medical Biochemistry, and preprints material available at SSRN, the researchers theorized the difference seen among genders is because of hormones in the body, particularly testosterone in males.
How Chromosomes Contribute to Immune Activity
As indicated in the press release issued by the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, testosterone is naturally suppressing the immune system. At the same time, estrogen, which is higher in women, is known to increase immune responses.
Additionally, the statement added, some genes coding for certain immune proteins "are on the X chromosome." Since women have two chromosomes, this might contribute to the enhancement of immune activity.
Henry explained, typically, just one X chromosome is active, and the other is usually deactivated. However, there is evidence that immune-related genes stay active on that redundant chromosome and help enhance immune responses in women.
Henry has led systematic studies as well that present similar results for age and gender. He, together with colleagues, developed an approach to standardize study findings for antibody levels by looking at changes in the percentage in levels of antibodies across 32 studies that involved over 5,000 people, with Abstract published in MedRxiv.
Older People Suffer More
Commenting on their findings, he said they have observed throughout the pandemic that more older individuals suffer the worst effects of COVID-19.
These studies point to the weaker immune response to COVID-19 as a contributing factor to such a phenomenon, said Henry.
He stressed that the decline in antibody levels does not mean that the vaccines don't work. He also noted that as antibodies continue to drop with time, booster doses can help them retain adequate levels of these "lifesaving antibodies."
Related information about antibodies and COVID-19 is shown on 11Alive's YouTube video below:
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