Humoral immunity of BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm) in kidney transplant recipients: Is it time to revise vaccination strategies.

BACKGROUND: The mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is high in transplant patients, and effective vaccination is aimed to reduce severe disease and mortality. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate humoral and cellular response to two 4-µg doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine in 100 kidney transplant recipients, using anti-spike IgG, total anti-receptor-binding domain, neutralizing antibody (Ab) level (enzyme-linked immunoassay), and interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA). RESULTS: Seroconversion was evaluated 85.84 ± 30.72 days after the second dose. Note that, 58% of all and 43.05% of infection-naïve participants have developed at least one of the tested antibodies. IGRA was positive in 30.7% of tested transplant recipients. Sixty percent of the participants had either humoral or cellular responses to COVID-19. Only age was independently linked to seropositivity of any degree after vaccination (p < .05). COVID-naïve patients older than 60 years developed significantly less neutralizing Abs. (p = .011). Six patients developed mild COVID infection more than a month after the second dose of the vaccine (54.5 ± 20.8 days). No vaccine-related adverse effects were reported, except self-limited mild to moderate fever and injection site pain. CONCLUSION: BBIBP-CorV vaccine can be used safely in kidney transplant recipients, although impaired cellular and humoral immunity necessitate adjustments in vaccination strategies, like higher (8-µg doses), fourth booster dose, or boost with different platform vaccine.

The evaluation of the relationship between serum levels of Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-10 and metabolic acidosis in hemodialysis patients.

Chronic kidney disease is defined as progressive kidney dysfunction. The levels of various cytokines increase in hemodialysis (HD) patients. High levels of interleukins (ILs) and presence of metabolic acidosis are described as independent risk factors for morbidity and mortality in these patients. This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between IL-6 and IL-10 and serum bicarbonate and metabolic acidosis in HD patients. In this analytical crosssectional study, patients referred to the HD units of Loghman Hakim and Shahid Ashrafi Esfahani Hospitals were randomly selected. Demographic and laboratory data, such as albumin, creatinine, calcium, phosphorus, parathormone, C-reactive protein, complete blood count, ferritin, ILs-6 and -10, and arterial blood gas analysis, were recorded for each patient. The correlation between IL and serum bicarbonate and other variables were evaluated by SPSS software. The patients were compared for the presence of acidosis and positivity for IL. A total of 84 patients with a mean age of 60.98 years and mean body mass index of 24.86 kg/m[2] were evaluated (53% male and 57% female). The mean dialysis duration was 24.86 ± 3.98 months. Overall, 41.7% of the patients had diabetes mellitus and 36.9% of them had hypotension. The mean serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 were 6.036 and 17.46 pg/ml, respectively. There was a significant correlation between IL-6 and IL-10 levels and serum bicarbonate and the incidence of metabolic acidosis (P <0.05). Based on the results, metabolic acidosis and bicarbonate could be considered prognostic factors to differentiate the increased levels of IL-6 and IL-10 and associated morbidity and mortality.

The evaluation of relationship between vitamin D and muscle power by micro manual muscle tester in end-stage renal disease patients.

Muscle force of lower limb is a major factor for sustaining physical activity. Decreased muscle force can limit physical activity, which can increase mortality and morbidity in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Muscle force depends on several factors. One of the most important factors is 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OHD) that affects muscle function in both uremic and non-uremic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between serum level of 25-OHD and muscle force of lower extremities in hemodialysis patients estimated by a Micro Manual Muscle Tester, a digital instrument that measures muscle force in kilograms This cross-sectional study was performed on 135 adult patients, 69 male (51%) and 66 female (69%) (mean: 1.4, standard deviation: 0.5), undergoing hemodialysis. Standard biochemistry parameters were measured before hemodialysis, including 25-OHD, calcium, albumin, para-hyroid hormone and C-reactive protein (CRP). Based on the result of serum level of 25-OHD, patients were classified into the following three groups: 85 patients (63%) were 25-OHD deficient (25-OHD <30), 43 patients (32%) had a normal level of 25-OHD (30-70) and seven patients (5%) had a toxic level of 25-OHD (>70) (mean: 1.42, standard deviation: 0.59). Also, based on the result of muscle force, patients were classified into the following three groups: 84/133 patients (62%) had weak muscle force (<5 kg), 46/133 patients (34%) had normal muscle force (5-10 kg) and three patients (21%) had strong muscle force (>10 kg) (mean: 1.39, standard deviation: 0.53). There was a significant relation between 25-OHD level and muscle force (P = 0.02), between age and muscle force (P = 0.002) and between gender and muscle force (P <0.001). In our opinion, 25-OHD can be a useful drug in ESRD patients to improve muscle force and physical activity.