The effect of sleep and shift work on the primary immune response to messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccination

• Published in: Journal of sleep research 2024-12, p.e14431
• Main Authors: Brouwers, Tamara M J, Çobanoğlu, Ümmü Gülsüm, Geers, Daryl, Rietdijk, Wim J R, Gommers, Lennert, Bogers, Susanne, Lammers, Gert Jan, van der Horst, Gijsbertus T J, Chaves, Inês, GeurtsvanKessel, Corine H, Koch, Birgit C P, de Vries, Rory D, van Baarle, Debbie, van der Kuy, Hugo M, Lammers-van der Holst, Heidi M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0962-1105; 1365-2869; 1365-2869
• DOI: 10.1111/jsr.14431

Shift work can cause circadian misalignment, which often results in sleeping problems and has been associated with immune dysfunction. To better understand the impact of shift work on a primary immune response to vaccination, we compared severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific humoral and cellular immune responses after one injection of the messenger RNA (mRNA)-1273 vaccine between day workers (n = 24) and night shift workers (n = 21). In addition, duration and quality of sleep were assessed for a period of 7 days around the time of vaccination using actigraphy and daily sleep diaries, and their relationship with immunogenicity of mRNA-1273 vaccination was studied. We found that median total sleep time on the 2 days immediately after vaccination, which coincided with the days that night shift workers worked night shifts, was significantly lower in night shift workers (342 and 318 min) than day workers (431 and 415 min) (both p