Open AccessInduction of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immune reactions in immune compromised patients
Author(s) -
E. A. Pogodina,
A. V. Lobov,
Patrīcija Ivanova,
V. I. Kazey,
И. Ж. Шубина
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
rossijskij bioterapevtičeskij žurnal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1726-9792
pISSN - 1726-9784
DOI - 10.17650/1726-9784-2021-20-4-18-25
Subject(s) - immune system , medicine , immunology , immunosuppression , immunogenicity , antimetabolite , immunity , methotrexate , immunotherapy , cellular immunity , concomitant , antibody , cancer
The aim of the review is studying the immune response to the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in different populations, including those with immunosuppression due to concomitant diseases or immunosuppressive therapy. The role of T cells in building up the anti-COVID-19 immunity is of special interest, particularly, when comparing T cell and antibody based immunity. A number of studies are focused on the effectiveness of T-cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as on the resistance to re-infection. The decreased immunity associated with such illnesses as autoimmune diseases, non-autoimmune inflammations, and the effect of immunosuppressive drugs and obviously, different cancers increase the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 development, and exacerbate the course of the disease. Several studies showed that patients with cancer are at risk of impaired immune response associated with a malignant neoplasm. The inefficient immune response was also shown in cancer patients receiving immunomodulatory therapy. However, some studies registered the specific immunogenicity after vaccination in patients with concomitant immunosuppression. Methotrexate is a folate antimetabolite. The drug can be used both in high doses as an antimetabolite in the antitumor therapy, and in low doses as an immunosuppressive agent in patients with autoimmune diseases. Therefore, the review also discusses a study that evaluated the humoral and cellular immune response to the BNT162b2 (PfizerBioNTech) anti-COVID-19 vaccine in patients receiving methotrexate. The rate of antibody production was lower in patients receiving methotrexate, though the level of T-cell response was similar in all groups studied. The review discussed immune compromised patients with cancer and hematological malignancies and patients living with HIV who had COVID-19. Most studies reported no significant differences of COVID-19 outcomes between major population and the patients with suppressed immune system. Hereby, the cell and humoral immune response in immune compromised patients is possible, however, additional studies are required to confirm these data.