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Immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in celiac disease
Jostein H Ibsen1, Adity Chopra2, Eline Benno Vaage2
1Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Background And Aims:
SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of the disease COVID-19 is a serious threat to our society. Effective vaccines have now entered the market, but most patient populations were not included in the registration clinical trials. There is evidence that patients with celiac disease (CeD) have reduced effect of vaccines such as the hepatitis B vaccine. Hence, we investigated the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (Chadox1, Comirnaty and Spikevax) in CeD patients and healthy controls.
Methods:
CeD patients from a patient registry at Oslo University Hospital were invited to donate serum samples before and after vaccination. We sent out 1537 invitations and received paired samples from 85 individuals. These were compared with similar samples from 238 healthy controls. Sera were analyzed for antibodies to the Spike protein from SARS-CoV2 and the receptor-binding domain. The results where then converted into binding antibody units (BAU)/ml to compare.
Results:
Prevaccination samples showed that very few patients had been earlier exposed to Sars-CoV2 and the antibody levels were low. Postvaccination analysis showed overlap of antibody levels between CeD and healthy controls. On average, the CeD patient group had 5555.0 BAU/ml (330.1 SD) while the average in healthy controls was 5419 (184.7 SD).
Conclusion:
The humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in CeD patients is similar to that observed in healthy controls.
Insights
Patients with celiac disease (CeD) show a similar humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines as healthy individuals. This finding is crucial for understanding vaccine effectiveness in specific patient populations.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Vaccinology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Celiac disease (CeD) patients were largely excluded from initial SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials.
- Previous research suggests potential reduced vaccine efficacy in CeD patients, such as with the hepatitis B vaccine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in celiac disease patients.
- To compare vaccine response in CeD patients against healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Serum samples were collected from 85 CeD patients and 238 healthy controls before and after vaccination.
- Antibody levels against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and receptor-binding domain were measured.
- Antibody levels were quantified in binding antibody units (BAU)/ml.
Main Results:
- Prevaccination samples indicated minimal prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure in both groups.
- Postvaccination antibody levels showed considerable overlap between CeD patients and healthy controls.
- Average antibody levels were comparable: 5555.0 BAU/ml (SD 330.1) in CeD patients versus 5419 BAU/ml (SD 184.7) in controls.
Conclusions:
- The humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in celiac disease patients is comparable to that in healthy individuals.
- These findings suggest that current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are effective in eliciting antibody responses in CeD patients.
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