Durable T cell immunity to COVID-19 vaccines in MS patients on B cell depletion therapy.
| Publication Type | Academic Article |
| Authors | Davis-Porada J, Tozlu C, Aiello C, Apostolidis S, Bar-Or A, Bove R, Espinoza D, Ferreira Brito S, Jacobs D, Kakara M, Onomichi K, Ricci A, Sabatino J, Walker E, Wherry E, Zhang L, Zhu W, Xia Z, De Jager P, Wesley S, Straus Farber R, Farber D |
| Journal | NPJ Vaccines |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pagination | 98 |
| Date Published | 05/17/2025 |
| ISSN | 2059-0105 |
| 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. |
| DOI | 10.1038/s41541-025-01151-8 |
| PubMed ID | 40382362 |
| PubMed Central ID | PMC12085558 |