Immune escape of SARS-CoV-2 variants to therapeutic monoclonal antibodies: a system review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Omicron's high transmissibility and variability present new difficulties for COVID-19 vaccination prevention and therapy. In this article, we analyzed the sensitivity of vaccine-induced antibodies as well as the effect of booster vaccinations against Omicron sublineages. METHODS: We looked for Randomized Controlled Trials and cohort studies that reported the COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron sublineages up to 28 July 2022 through PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Quantitative synthesis was carried out using Stata 16.0 and RevMa5.3, then the serum NT50 and antibody sensitivity to neutralize Omicron sublineages were assessed before and after booster vaccination. This study was registered with PROSPERO number CRD42022350477. RESULTS: This meta-analysis included 2138 patients from 20 studies, and the booster vaccination against Omicron sublineages showed a significant difference compared to 2 dosage: BA.1/BA.1.1 (SMD = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.75–0.85, P = 0.00), BA.2/BA.2.12.1 (SMD = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.69–0.85, P = 0.00), BA.3 (SMD = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.83–1.0, P = 0.00), and BA.4/5 (SMD = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.60–0.94, P = 0.00). The sensitivity of vaccines-induced antibodies decreased by at least 5-folds after booster vaccination, particularly in the case of BA.4/5 which had the most notable decline in vaccine effectiveness. CONCLUSION: After the booster vaccination, the NT50 and the neutralization ability of vaccine-induced antibodies increased, but the susceptibility of antibodies decreased compared with the control virus, which may be a clue for future Omicron sublineages prevention. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12985-023-01977-5.