Development of Humoral and Cellular Immunological Memory Against SARS-CoV-2 Despite B Cell Depleting Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

Overview

Journal iScience

Publisher Cell Press

Date 2021 Sep 7

PMID 34490414

Citations 22

Authors

Klara Asplund Hogelin

Nicolas Ruffin

Elisa Pin

Anna Manberg

Sophia Hober

Guro Gafvelin

Hans Gronlund

Peter Nilsson

Mohsen Khademi

Tomas Olsson

Fredrik Piehl

Faiez Al Nimer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

B cell depleting therapies (BCDTs) are widely used as immunomodulating agents for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Their possible impact on development of immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has raised concerns with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We here evaluated the frequency of COVID-19-like symptoms and determined immunological responses in participants of an observational trial comprising several multiple sclerosis disease modulatory drugs (COMBAT-MS; NCT03193866) and in eleven patients after vaccination, with a focus on BCDT. Almost all seropositive and 17.9% of seronegative patients on BCDT, enriched for a history of COVID-19-like symptoms, developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 T cell memory, and T cells displayed functional similarity to controls producing IFN-γ and TNF. Following vaccination, vaccine-specific humoral memory was impaired, while all patients developed a specific T cell response. These results indicate that BCDTs do not abrogate SARS-CoV-2 cellular memory and provide a possible explanation as to why the majority of patients on BCDTs recover from COVID-19.

Citing Articles

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Impact of previous treatment history and B-cell depletion treatment duration on infection risk in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a nationwide cohort study.

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Analysis of humoral and cellular immunity after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with immunomodulatory drugs.

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