{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"medRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T12:25:06Z","timestamp":1768566306841,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,27]]},"group-title":"Allergy and Immunology","reference-count":0,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,27]],"date-time":"2024-10-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1729987200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.medrxiv.org\/about\/FAQ#license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,29]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Wildfires are increasingly common with wildfire smoke affecting millions globally, yet its impact on immune responses is poorly understood. Natural Killer (NK) cells play a role in mediating air pollutant effects and regulating vaccine immunity. Objective: This real-world study, conducted on participants in the Pfizer BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine trial, studied the effects of wildfire smoke exposure on long-term vaccine effects. Methods: We collected blood samples from 52 healthy, non-smoking participants (ages 26-83) before and 1 month after placebo or vaccine injections during heavy wildfire smoke events in Sacramento. The study included 28 vaccinated (Group 1) and 24 placebo-injected (Group 2) individuals, the latter vaccinated several months later, outside wildfire season. Blood samples from both Group 1 and 2 were also investigated 6 months after the second dose of vaccine. We analyzed intracellular cytokines, B and NK cell markers by flow cytometry, and serum immunoglobulin levels against common coronaviruses using multiplex assays. Results: A robust S-RBD-specific IgG response observed 1 month post booster, declined variably 6 months later. Wildfire smoke acutely increased IL-13 expression by CD56bright NK cells. IL-13+CD56bright NK cells at the time of vaccination negatively correlated with anti-S-RBD IgG (r=-0.41, p&lt;0.05) one month later. Total IgG levels on the other hand, positively correlated with the air quality index (AQI) measured during vaccination (r=0.96, p&lt;0.01). Similarly to age (but not sex, BMI or race\/ethnicity), the two-week AQI averages during vaccination showed a significant negative correlation with anti-S-RBD IgG levels 6 months later (r=-0.41, p&lt;0.05). Conclusion: Wildfire smoke may lead to inappropriate immunoglobulin production and diminished vaccine immunity. Our novel findings highlight a previously unrecognized pathway involving NK-cell derived IL-13 and non-specific B-cell activation and underscore the significance of environmental exposures in shaping immunity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.10.25.24316123","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,27]],"date-time":"2024-10-27T21:05:13Z","timestamp":1730063113000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Real-life observation of wildfire-smoke impaired COVID-19 vaccine immunity"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Gursharan K","family":"Sanghar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Melissa","family":"Teuber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Resmi","family":"Ravindran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emma Jean","family":"Keller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sean M","family":"Raffuse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pedro A","family":"Hernandez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Angela","family":"Linderholm","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabrielle","family":"Echt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Franzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kaelyn","family":"Tuermer-Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maya","family":"Juarez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Timothy E","family":"Albertson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Imran","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1301-4941","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela","family":"Haczku","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","container-title":[],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.1101\/2024.10.25.24316123","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T20:18:01Z","timestamp":1768508281000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/medrxiv.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.1101\/2024.10.25.24316123"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,27]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1101\/2024.10.25.24316123","relation":{"is-preprint-of":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1016\/j.jaci.2025.01.035","asserted-by":"subject"}]},"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,27]]},"subtype":"preprint"}}