Bibliographic Details
| Title: |
Cellular immune response to the anti-SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in pediatric autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease patients and controls. |
| Authors: |
Eviatar, Tali1,2 (AUTHOR) talie@tlvmc.gov.il, Pappo, Adi3 (AUTHOR), Freund, Tal1,4 (AUTHOR), Friedlander, Yishai5 (AUTHOR), Elkayam, Ori1,2 (AUTHOR), Hagin, David1,2,4 (AUTHOR), Heshin-Bekenstein, Merav1,2,6 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: |
Clinical & Experimental Immunology. Aug2024, Vol. 217 Issue 2, p167-172. 6p. |
| Subject Terms: |
*COVID-19, *BREAKTHROUGH infections, *COVID-19 pandemic, *HUMORAL immunity, *RHEUMATISM |
| Abstract: |
This paper aims to compare the cellular immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine of pediatric patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic disease (pAIIRD) and healthy controls. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted between April 2021 and December 2022 at the Tel Aviv Medical Center. Children <18 years, with pediatric-onset AIIRD and healthy controls, who have received at least two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine, were included. Humoral response was evaluated by serum levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain antibodies. Cellular response was evaluated by flow cytometry, measuring IFNγ and TNFα production by CD4+ T cells following stimulation with SARS-CoV-2 Spike peptide mix. The study included 20 pAIIRD patients and 11 controls. The mean age of participants was 12.6 ± 2.94 years, with 58.1% females. The cellular response to the BNT162b2 vaccine was statistically similar in both groups. However, the humoral response was statistically lower in pAIIRD compared with the healthy control group. There was no statistically significant correlation between the humoral response and cellular response. During the study period, 43.75% of AIIRD children and 72.7% of controls had a breakthrough COVID-19 infection (P = 0.48). Bivariate models examining the effect of the cellular response and presence of an AIIRD on breakthrough infections found no effect. Compared with healthy controls, pAIIRD demonstrated similar cellular responses. Patients showed reduced humoral response compared with healthy adolescents, but similar breakthrough infection rates. These findings may support the importance of the cellular response in protecting against COVID-19 infections. Pediatric rheumatic patients may be vulnerable to COVID-19 infections due to their disease and immunosuppressive medications. Compared with healthy controls, pediatric patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases demonstrated similar cellular responses and COVID-19 breakthrough infection rates, but reduced humoral responses. These findings may support the importance of the cellular response in protecting against COVID-19 infections. Graphical Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|
Copyright of Clinical & Experimental Immunology is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| Database: |
Academic Search Complete |
