Vitallé, JoanaPérez-Gómez, AlbertoOstos, Francisco JoséGasca-Capote, CarmenJiménez-León, María ReyesBachiller, SaraRivas-Jeremías, InmaculadaSilva-Sánchez, Maria Del MarRuiz-Mateos, Anabel MMartín-Sánchez, María ÁngelesLópez-Cortes, Luis FernandoRafii-El-Idrissi Benhnia, MohammedRuiz-Mateos, Ezequiel2023-05-032023-05-032022-09-08http://hdl.handle.net/10668/20206The immune factors associated with impaired SARS-CoV-2 vaccine response in elderly people are mostly unknown. We studied individuals older than 60 and younger than 60 years, who had been vaccinated with SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA, before and after the first and second dose. Aging was associated with a lower anti-RBD IgG levels and a decreased magnitude and polyfunctionality of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response. The dramatic decrease in thymic function in people > 60 years, which fueled alteration in T cell homeostasis, and their lower CD161+ T cell levels were associated with decreased T cell response 2 months after vaccination. Additionally, deficient DC homing, activation, and TLR-mediated function, along with a proinflammatory functional profile in monocytes, were observed in the > 60-year-old group, which was also related to lower specific T cell response after vaccination. These findings might be relevant for the improvement of the current vaccination strategies and for the development of new vaccine prototypes.enAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Adaptive immunityCellular senescenceImmunologyInnate immunityVaccinesAgedBNT162 VaccineCOVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesHumansMiddle AgedSARS-CoV-2Vaccines, SyntheticViral VaccinesmRNA Vaccinesresearch article35943812open access10.1172/jci.insight.1610452379-3708PMC9536264http://insight.jci.org/articles/view/161045/files/pdfhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9536264/pdf