Escalating SARS-CoV-2 specific humoral immune response in rheumatoid arthritis patients and healthy controls.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation] Country of Publication: Switzerland NLM ID: 101560960 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1664-3224 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 16643224 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Front Immunol Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: [Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation]
    • Subject Terms:
      Arthritis, Rheumatoid*/immunology ; SARS-CoV-2*/immunology ; COVID-19*/immunology ; Antibodies, Viral*/blood ; Antibodies, Viral*/immunology ; Immunity, Humoral* ; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus*/immunology; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Adult ; T-Lymphocytes/immunology ; Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins/immunology ; Prospective Studies ; Phosphoproteins/immunology ; Case-Control Studies ; Longitudinal Studies
    • Abstract:
      Background: Immunocompromised patients are at particular risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and previous findings suggest that the infection or vaccination induced immune response decreases over time. Our main goal was to investigate the SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response in rheumatoid arthritis patients and healthy controls over prolonged time.
      Methods: The SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral immune response was measured by Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) immunoassay, and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NCP) were also evaluated by Euroimmun enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test. The SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response was detected by an IFN- γ release assay.
      Results: We prospectively enrolled 84 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 43 healthy controls in our longitudinal study. Our findings demonstrate that RA patients had significantly lower anti-S antibody response and reduced SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response compared to healthy controls (p<0.01 for healthy controls, p<0.001 for RA patients). Furthermore, our results present evidence of a notable increase in the SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral immune response during the follow-up period in both study groups (p<0.05 for healthy volunteers, p<0.0001 for RA patients, rank-sum test). Participants who were vaccinated against Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) during the interim period had 2.72 (CI 95%: 1.25-5.95, p<0.05) times higher anti-S levels compared to those who were not vaccinated during this period. Additionally, individuals with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection exhibited 2.1 times higher (CI 95%: 1.31-3.37, p<0.01) anti-S levels compared to those who were not infected during the interim period. It is worth noting that patients treated with targeted therapy had 52% (CI 95%: 0.25-0.94, p<0.05) lower anti-S levels compared to matched patients who did not receive targeted therapy. Concerning the SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response, our findings revealed that its level had not changed substantially in the study groups.
      Conclusion: Our present data revealed that the level of SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral immune response is actually higher, and the SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response remained at the same level over time in both study groups. This heightened humoral response, the nearly permanent SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response and the coexistence of different SARS-CoV-2 variants within the population, might be contributing to the decline in severe COVID-19 cases.
      Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
      (Copyright © 2024 Nemeth, Vago, Tothfalusi, Ulakcsai, Becker, Szabo, Rojkovich, Gunkl-Toth, Merkely and Nagy.)
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    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; cellular immune response; humoral immune response; immunosuppression; longitudinal study
    • Accession Number:
      0 (Antibodies, Viral)
      0 (Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus)
      0 (spike protein, SARS-CoV-2)
      0 (Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins)
      0 (nucleocapsid phosphoprotein, SARS-CoV-2)
      0 (Phosphoproteins)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240624 Date Completed: 20240624 Latest Revision: 20240625
    • Publication Date:
      20240625
    • Accession Number:
      PMC11190160
    • Accession Number:
      10.3389/fimmu.2024.1397052
    • Accession Number:
      38911866