It appears that a small group of antibodies dominates and personalises the entire repertoire of the immune system. Researchers at Utrecht University discovered that these antibodies remain virtually unchanged in composition and quantity, even after vaccinations. They published their findings in Science Advances.

Antibodies play an essential role in our immune system and in providing long-term immunity against diseases. They help the body clear viruses and bacteria by binding to specific antigens on their surfaces. To optimise this binding process, the immune system can refine the structure of the antibodies over time.

Now, researchers from Utrecht University and their international colleagues have discovered that the majority of antibodies change very little. They demonstrated this by analysing blood samples taken from eleven healthy volunteers over the course of a year. During that year, the volunteers received three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Danique van Rijswijck, the first author and a molecular biologist at Utrecht University, said: ‘Over the course of a year, we saw the same antibodies with the same concentration dominate the antibody repertoire despite the vaccinations. This was completely contrary to our expectations.’