Coordinated cellular and humoral immune responses after two‐dose SARS‐CoV2 mRNA vaccination in liver transplant recipients

• Published in: Liver international Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 180 - 186
• Main Authors: D’Offizi, Gianpiero, Agrati, Chiara, Visco‐Comandini, Ubaldo, Castilletti, Concetta, Puro, Vincenzo, Piccolo, Paola, Montalbano, Marzia, Meschi, Silvia, Tartaglia, Eleonora, Sorace, Chiara, Leone, Sara, Lapa, Daniele, Grassi, Germana, Goletti, Delia, Ippolito, Giuseppe, Vaia, Francesco, Ettorre, Giuseppe Maria, Lionetti, Raffaella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-01-2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral; anti‐spike titre; Brief Definitive Report; Cirrhosis, Liver Failure and Transplantation; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Vaccines; Cytokines; Humans; Immune response; Immune response (humoral); Immune system; Immunity, Humoral; Immunosuppressive agents; Infectious diseases; Interferon; Leukocytes, Mononuclear; Liver; Liver diseases; liver transplant; Liver Transplantation; Liver transplants; mRNA; Mycophenolate mofetil; Mycophenolic acid; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Viral; SARS-CoV-2; SARS‐CoV2 vaccination; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Transplant Recipients; Transplantation; T‐cell immune response; Vaccination; Vaccines; anti-spike titre; SARS-CoV2 vaccination; liver transplant; T-cell immune response
• ISSN: 1478-3223; 1478-3231; 1478-3231
• DOI: 10.1111/liv.15089

Limited data are available on risks and benefits of anti‐SARS‐CoV2 vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients, and weaker responses have been described. At the Italian National Institute for Infectious Diseases, 61 liver transplant recipients underwent testing to describe the dynamics of humoral and cell‐mediated immune response after two doses of anti‐SARS‐CoV2 mRNA vaccines and compared with 51 healthy controls. Humoral response was measured by quantifying both anti‐spike and neutralizing antibodies; cell‐mediated response was measured by PBMC proliferation assay with IFN‐γ and IL‐2 production. Liver transplant recipients showed lower response rates compared with controls in both humoral and cellular arms; shorter time since transplantation and multi‐drug immunosuppressive regimen containing mycophenolate mofetil were predictive of reduced response to vaccination. Specific antibody and cytokine production, though reduced, were highly correlated in transplant recipients.