SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Induced Atypical Immune Responses in Antibody Defects: Everybody Does Their Best

Overview

Journal J Clin Immunol

Publisher Springer

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2021 Oct 20

PMID 34669144

Citations 57

Authors

Ane Fernandez Salinas

Eva Piano Mortari

Sara Terreri

Concetta Quintarelli

Federica Pulvirenti

Stefano Di Cecca

Marika Guercio

Cinzia Milito

Livia Bonanni

Stefania Auria

Laura Romaggioli

Giuseppina Cusano

Christian Albano

Salvatore Zaffina

Carlo Federico Perno

Giuseppe Spadaro

Franco Locatelli

Rita Carsetti

Isabella Quinti

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Data on immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with Primary Antibody Deficiencies (PAD) are limited to infected patients and to heterogeneous cohorts after immunization.

Methods: Forty-one patients with Common Variable Immune Deficiencies (CVID), six patients with X-linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA), and 28 healthy age-matched controls (HD) were analyzed for anti-Spike and anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody production, generation of Spike-specific memory B-cells, and Spike-specific T-cells before vaccination and one week after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine.

Results: The vaccine induced Spike-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses in all HD and in 20% of SARS-CoV-2 naive CVID patients. Anti-Spike IgG were detectable before vaccination in 4 out 7 CVID previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and were boosted in six out of seven patients by the subsequent immunization raising higher levels than patients naïve to infection. While HD generated Spike-specific memory B-cells, and RBD-specific B-cells, CVID generated Spike-specific atypical B-cells, while RBD-specific B-cells were undetectable in all patients, indicating the incapability to generate this new specificity. Specific T-cell responses were evident in all HD and defective in 30% of CVID. All but one patient with XLA responded by specific T-cell only.

Conclusion: In PAD patients, early atypical immune responses after BNT162b2 immunization occurred, possibly by extra-follicular or incomplete germinal center reactions. If these responses to vaccination might result in a partial protection from infection or reinfection is now unknown. Our data suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection more effectively primes the immune response than the immunization alone, possibly suggesting the need for a third vaccine dose for patients not previously infected.

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