Patients with multiple sclerosis show strong T cell responses to mRNA COVID-19 vaccine

New research shows that multiple sclerosis (MS) patients receiving anti-cd20 (aCD20) treatment can produce a strong T cell response to the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, despite the silent antibody response to the vaccine

Because B cells are responsible for the production of antibodies, when B cells are depleted by aCD20 treatment, the patient's ability to produce antibodies to prevent viruses from entering and infecting human cells is significantly weakened

"The message from this study is clear-it is worthwhile for MS patients to receive aCD20 treatment and COVID-19 vaccine to prevent serious illness," corresponding author E.

The study measured the antibody and T cell responses of 20 MS patients treated with aCD20 and compared them with a group of healthy controls

All healthy control subjects produced anti-spike and anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibodies after the first dose of mRNA vaccine, and the antibody level further increased after the second dose

The time of the patient's last injection of aCD20—usually every six months—plays an important role in the increase in immune response

"This data not only reveals that patients receiving anti-CD20 injections are still able to develop an important COVID-19 vaccine response, which may protect them from serious diseases, but it also provides information for our clinical practice, telling us how This type of therapy is recommended for patients with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases

The researchers found that the T cell subsets of patients treated with aCD20 responded to the vaccine similarly to healthy controls

"Usually we test for the presence of antibodies when determining whether a patient has an appropriate response to the mRNA vaccine, but this method ignores the immune response of the patient's entire arm," Sokratis a, a researcher in the Department of Rheumatology and one of the main authors of the study Said Apostolidis, MD

The researchers did notice that because patients receiving aCD20 treatment have a limited antibody response, they may not be able to quickly neutralize the virus before it infects other cells, which may cause them to become infectious carriers of the virus for a longer period of time