The gene variant, HLA-DQB1*06, had the most statistically significant association with antibodies. The results could influence further research into next-generation vaccines since there’s slim information on why one vaccinated person may have more immunity than another, the researchers wrote.
When evaluating the number of breakthrough infections among the study’s 1,076 participants, the gene was present in about a third of breakthrough cases and in 45.6 percent of people who did not have a breakthrough infection.
Based on the results of what the researchers said are the first findings of an association between HLA and antibody responses, they concluded there’s an “urgent need to investigate these associations further” in more populations.
The HLA variant is prevalent among 40 percent of the U.K. population — where the study was performed — and present in 10 percent of populations in other parts of the world, according to Bloomberg.
