Durable T cell immunity to COVID-19 vaccines in MS patients on B cell depletion therapy
Abstract Immune-mediated protection generated to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is associated with anti-Spike (S) protein neutralizing antibodies. However, humoral immunity is compromised in B cell depleting (BCD) therapies, used to treat autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). To study the eff...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | npj Vaccines |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-025-01151-8 |
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| Summary: | Abstract Immune-mediated protection generated to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is associated with anti-Spike (S) protein neutralizing antibodies. However, humoral immunity is compromised in B cell depleting (BCD) therapies, used to treat autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). To study the effect of BCD on the durability and protective efficacy of vaccine-induced immunity, we evaluated S-reactive antibodies and T cell responses 1–70 weeks post-vaccination in MS cohorts treated with BCD compared to non-BCD therapies from four centers. BCD-treated participants had significantly reduced antibody levels and enhanced frequencies of S-reactive CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells to COVID-19 vaccination compared to the non-BCD group, with some variations among different BCD formulations. T cell memory responses persisted up to 14 months post-vaccination in both BCD and non-BCD cohorts, who experienced similar clinical protection from COVID-19. Together, our results establish a critical role for T cell-mediated immunity in anti-viral protection independent of humoral immunity. |
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| ISSN: | 2059-0105 |