Sex differences in antibody responses to the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination

Abstract

There are profound sex-based differences in both humoral and cellular immune responses to vaccination.1 In general, women have higher antibody responses to bacterial and viral vaccines than men.2 For instance, women vaccinated with half the dose of the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine produce similar humoral immune responses than men vaccinated with a full dose of the vaccine.3 Given that the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) is an important tool in our evaluation of the humoral immune response,4 we sought to reveal whether men and women have a different immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody response to PPSV23.