Journal Article

Immunogenicity of tick-borne-encephalitis-virus-(TBEV)-vaccination and impact of age on humoral and cellular TBEV-specific immune responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Hartmann, Gerhardt, Rack, Christoph, Schmalzing, Marc, Walder, Gernot, Dobler, Gerhard, Fladerer, Michael, Prelog, Martina, Arbogast, Martin, Jahn, Lydia, Mutterer, Angelika, Deininger, Frank, Völkl, Sebastian, Hick, Sonja, Sonnleitner, Sissy, Schäfer, Arne, Feuchtenberger, Martin, Almanzar, Giovanni, Steimer, Marie

2024

Overview

•RA patients showed lower IgG-anti-TBEV compared to HC.•In RA, IgG-anti-TBEV are influenced by age at, time since last TBEV vaccination and disease duration.•Higher IgG-anti-TBEV responses in RA patients who had received booster vaccination.•Lower natural killer cell responses in RA patients.•Immunological benefits are suggested for timely boosters. Inactivated vaccines, such as tick-borne-encephalitis-virus-(TBEV) vaccine, have been discussed as less immunogenic in elderly and in immunocompromised patients. In this controlled cross-sectional cohort study, the antibody and cellular responses after TBEV-vaccination were investigated in 36 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 112 healthy controls (HC) by evaluating IgG-anti-TBEV concentration, neutralization and relative avidity index (RAI). Cellular reactivity was assessed by IFNgamma-producing spot-forming-units (SFU) by ELISPOT assay and flow cytometry. RA patients showed lower IgG-anti-TBEV compared to HC, which were influenced by age at and time since last TBEV vaccination and disease duration. High-responders regarding cellular immunity and avidity were less frequent in RA compared to HC. RA patients who had received booster vaccinations were more likely to demonstrate higher IgG-anti-TBEV responses compared to those who had not. In conclusion, RA patients showed a negative effect of age on anti-TBEV-IgG and immunological benefits of timely booster vaccination are suggested.

• Publisher: Elsevier Ltd,Elsevier Limited
• Subject: Age / Age factors / Aged / Allergy and Immunology / Animals / Antibodies / Antibodies, Viral / Antigens / Arachnids / Arthritis / Autoimmune diseases / Avidity / Booster vaccination / Cell culture / Cell-mediated immunity / Cohort analysis / cohort studies / Cross-Sectional Studies / elderly / Encephalitis / Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Encephalitis, Tick-Borne - prevention & control / Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay / Flow cytometry / Humans / Immune response / Immune response (humoral) / Immunity, Cellular / Immunocompromised hosts / Immunocompromised patients / Immunogenicity / Immunoglobulin G / Immunology / Neutralization / Rheumatoid arthritis / secondary immunization / Serology / TBEV-specific immune response / TBEV-vaccines / Tick-borne-encephalitis / Ticks / Vaccination / Vaccines / Viruses