First exposure to SARS-CoV-2 shapes IgG subclass switching after mRNA vaccination

DOI

Background: mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have proven highly effective in reducing severe disease and death, but repeated administration induces an unusual shift in IgG subclasses. In particular, increases in IgG2 and IgG4 raise questions about their regulation, persistence, and implications for protective immunity. Methods: To investigate the longitudinal dynamics and factors influencing IgG subclasses and their impact on protective immunity, we analyzed the levels of IgG1–4 subclasses, C1q, and FcγR-binding IgG against antigens from multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants in a well-characterized cohort of healthcare workers in Spain. Results: Subclass responses were shaped by exposure history, with infection before vaccination limiting the extent of IgG2 and IgG4 class switching relative to infection after vaccination. IgG4 demonstrated broader reactivity to Omicron variants than IgG1, and both IgG2 and IgG4 showed slower decay of circulating antibody levels than IgG1. IgG4 levels correlated with FcγR- and C1q-binding antibodies only in participants with lower IgG1, suggesting competition between subclasses. During Omicron predominance, elevated IgG2 and IgG4 were linked to increased risk of breakthrough infection in vaccinees, whereas levels of IgG1 and FcγR- and C1q-binding antibodies were associated with protection. Conclusions: Our findings highlight marked differences in IgG subclass profiles according to first exposure history and suggest that IgG subclass distribution and persistence may influence antibody-mediated immunity following mRNA vaccination. Further studies are warranted to clarify the mechanistic and clinical implications of IgG subclass shift for long-term protection.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.34810/DATA3234
Metadata Access https://dataverse.csuc.cat/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_datacite&identifier=doi:10.34810/DATA3234
Provenance
Creator Carla Martin Perez ORCID logo; Sivia Ruiz-Rius ORCID logo; Anna Ramirez Morros ORCID logo; Marta Vidal ORCID logo; Alfons Jimenez ORCID logo; Luis Izquierdo ORCID logo; Pere Santamaria ORCID logo; Josep Vidal Alaball ORCID logo; James G. Beeson ORCID logo; Luis M. Molinos-Albert ORCID logo; Ruth Aguilar ORCID logo; Anna Ruiz-Comellas ORCID logo; Gemma Moncunill ORCID logo; Carlota Dobaño ORCID logo
Publisher CORA.Repositori de Dades de Recerca
Contributor UBIOESGD
Publication Year 2026
Rights CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
OpenAccess false
Contact UBIOESGD (Barcelona Institute for Global Health)
Representation
Resource Type Experimental data; Dataset
Format text/csv; application/octet-stream; application/gzip; text/plain; text/x-r-notebook
Size 50648; 5576224; 4039186; 163518; 2409; 949; 106825; 6513; 56937; 272321
Version 1.0
Discipline Life Sciences; Medicine