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Patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy can mount robust T cell responses to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines (preprint)
medrxiv; 2021.
Preprint
in English
| medRxiv | ID: ppzbmed-10.1101.2021.07.21.21260928
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy are particularly at risk of developing severe COVID-19, however little is known regarding COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in this population. This study assesses humoral and T-cell responses to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in patients treated with rituximab for rheumatic diseases or ocrelizumab for multiple sclerosis (n=37), compared to immunocompetent individuals (n=22). SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies were detectable in only 69.4% of patients and at levels that were significantly lower compared to controls who all seroconverted. In contrast to antibodies, Spike (S)-specific CD4+ T cells were equally detected in immunocompetent and anti-CD20 treated patients (85-90%) and mostly of a Th1 phenotype. Response rates of S-specific CD8 + T cells were higher in ocrelizumab (96.2%) and rituximab-treated patients (81.8%) as compared to controls (66.7%). Vaccine-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cells were polyfunctional but expressed more IL-2 in patients than in controls. In summary, our study suggests that patients on anti-CD20 treatment are able to mount potent T-cell responses to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, despite impaired humoral responses. This could play an important role in the prevention of severe COVID-19.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
medRxiv
Main subject:
Rheumatic Diseases
/
COVID-19
/
Multiple Sclerosis
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Preprint
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