Extensive T-Cell Profiling Following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccination in Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated with DMTs

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are known to impact cellular and humoral immune response in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). In this study, we performed in-depth SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell profiling using flow cytometry. T-cell immunity in pwMS with or without DMTs was evaluated before a first SARS-CoV-2 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccination and at one-, two- and six-month follow-up. T-cell stimulation without SARS-CoV-2-specific antigens was used as a control. T-cell response was compared to B-cell response by evaluating SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. We observed an upregulation of specific subpopulations of SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific CD4+ T cells. Thus, our results demonstrate the induction of a broad and distinct CD4+ T-cell response in pwMS even on anti-CD20 treatment and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulation after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination. This was particularly seen in CD4+high and CD4+CD154+ T cells. Our results do not support the induction of a CD8+ T-cell immune response. While humoral immune response was impaired in pwMS during ocrelizumab and fingolimod treatment, there was evidence of a compensatory upregulation of subpopulations of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells at low levels of seroconversion in pwMS. In conclusion, our results provide important insights into the mechanisms of the adaptive immune response in pwMS following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number235
Number of pages23
JournalPathogens (Basel, Switzerland)
Volume14 (2025)
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 27 Feb 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC11944680
ORCID /0000-0001-8799-8202/work/181390237
Scopus 105001108194
ORCID /0000-0002-7524-7628/work/195441856

Keywords

Keywords

  • Adult, Aged, Antibodies, Viral/blood, CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/immunology, COVID-19 Vaccines/immunology, COVID-19/immunology, Female, Humans, Immunosuppressive Agents/therapeutic use, Male, Middle Aged, Multiple Sclerosis/immunology, SARS-CoV-2/immunology, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/immunology, T-Lymphocytes/immunology, Vaccination