Combined copper and zinc deficiency is associated with reduced SARS-CoV-2 immunization response to BNT162b2 vaccination

Thilo Samson Chillon; Kamil Demircan; Julian Hackler; Raban A Heller; Peyman Kaghazian; Arash Moghaddam; Lutz Schomburg

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20919

Combined copper and zinc deficiency is associated with reduced SARS-CoV-2 immunization response to BNT162b2 vaccination

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 14;9(10):e20919. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20919. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Thilo Samson Chillon¹, Kamil Demircan¹, Julian Hackler¹, Raban A Heller^{1

2}, Peyman Kaghazian³, Arash Moghaddam³, Lutz Schomburg¹

Affiliations

¹ Max Rubner Center for Cardiovascular Metabolic Renal Research (CMR), Institute for Experimental Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hessische Straße 3-4, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
² Bundeswehr Hospital Berlin, Clinic of Traumatology and Orthopaedics, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
³ Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Frohsinnstraße 12, D-63739 Aschaffenburg, Germany.

Abstract

The essential trace elements copper, selenium and zinc are of relevance for immunity and immune response to vaccination. In this longitudinal study, adult healthcare workers (n = 126) received two doses of an mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2), and longitudinal serum samples were prepared. Vaccine-induced antibodies and their neutralizing activity were analyzed, and the trace elements copper, zinc, and selenium along with the copper transporter ceruloplasmin were measured. Subjects with combined deficiency of copper and zinc, i.e. both in the lowest tertiles at baseline, displayed particularly low antibody titers at three (Double Q1: 13 AU/mL vs. not double Q1: 29 AU/mL) and six (Double Q1: 200 AU/mL vs. not double Q1: 425 AU/mL) weeks after vaccination (p < 0.05). The results indicate the potential importance of an adequate trace element status of copper and zinc for raising a strong vaccine-induced SARS-CoV-2 antibody response, and highlights the importance of considering combined micronutrient insufficiencies, as single deficiencies may synergize.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ceruloplasmin; Micronutrients; Selenium; Trace elements.