Reassuring humoral and cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in participants with systemic sclerosis

Abstract

Individuals with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are particularly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infections, yet it remains to be determined if they generate humoral and cellular responses comparable to controls following SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations. Herein, we collected blood and serum after second, third, and fourth SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations in patients with SSc and controls. Following each dose, participants with SSc mounted comparable serum anti-RBD IgG, anti-RBD IgA, and spike-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺T cell responses to those found in controls. At 3 months post dose 2, the frequencies of Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg spike-specific CD4⁺T cells in participants with SSc did not differ from controls. At 2-6 weeks post dose 3, participants with SSc displayed reduced frequencies, but not numbers, of Th17-polarized spike-specific CD4⁺T cells. Thus, participants with SSc did not display significantly weaker humoral or cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination than controls, enabling reassurance of vaccine immunogenicity in participants with SSc.

Keywords: Autoimmune diseases; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Systemic sclerosis; Vaccines.