ABSTRACT
Objective The peripheral lymphocyte compartment of patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) differs strongly from healthy individuals. Whether this altered lymphocyte composition also changes abnormally during immune reactions, especially by novel CoV- 2-vaccines, is unknown. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 26 pSS patients and 6 healthy controls were compared before Coronavirus-2 (CoV-2) vaccination (Pfizer/BNT162b2, Moderna/mRNA-1273, AstraZeneca/AZD122 ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) and 7 days after secondary vaccination. Spike 1 (S1)-receptor binding domain (RBD)-specific IgG antibodies were measured in serum samples. Among PBMCs, B and T cell subpopulations were phenotypically analysed and RBD-specific B and plasma cells were evaluated. Results Immunisation induced CoV-2 specific serum antibodies in all pSS patients and healthy participants. When analysing pSS patients and controls together, frequencies of circulating IgG+ RBD-specific antibody-secreting cells (ASC) and anti-RBD serum titres correlated (r=0.42, p=0.022). Previously described alterations of peripheral B cells in pSS patients (e.g. reduced memory B cells, increased naive and transitional B cells and higher maturity of ASCs) remained stable during vaccination. The subset distribution of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells also stayed largely unchanged. However, frequencies of CD4+CXCR5-PD-1+ circulating peripheral helper T (cT(PH))-like cells increased in pSS patients comparing pre- and post-vaccination (p=0.020), while circulating CD4+CXCR5+PD-1+ follicular helper T (cT(FH))-like cells declined (p=0.024). Conclusion An immune reaction induced by vaccination with the novel CoV-2 vaccines yields adequate antibody production and vaccine specific lymphocytes in pSS patients and controls. Aberrant lymphocyte subset distribution in pSS patients persisted after vaccination and no major changes were induced despite small changes in cT(PH) and cT(FH) cells.
ABSTRACT
Purpose In March 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Previous virus outbreaks, such as the SARS outbreak in 2003, appeared to have a great impact on the mental health of healthcare workers. The aim of this paper is to study to what extent mental health of healthcare workers differed from non-healthcare workers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We used data from a large-scale longitudinal online survey conducted by the Corona Behavioral Unit in the Netherlands. Eleven measurement rounds were analyzed, from April 2020 to March 2021 (N = 16,657;number of observations=64,316). Mental health, as measured by the 5-item Mental Health Inventory, was compared between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers over time, by performing linear GEE-analyses. Results Mental health scores were higher among healthcare workers compared to non-healthcare workers during the first year of the pandemic (1.29 on a 0-100 scale;95%-CI=0.75-1.84). During peak periods of the pandemic, with over 100 hospital admissions or over 25 ICU admissions per day and subsequently more restrictive measures, mental health scores were observed to be lower in both healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers. Conclusions During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed no relevant difference in mental health between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers in the Netherlands. To be better prepared for another pandemic, future research should investigate which factors hinder and which factors support healthcare workers to maintain a good mental health. Key messages • During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed no relevant difference in mental health between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers in the Netherlands. • During peak periods of the pandemic, mental health was observed to be poorer in both healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers.
ABSTRACT
Objectives. The peripheral lymphocyte compartment of patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) differs strongly from healthy individuals. Whether this altered lymphocyte composition also abnormally changes during immune reactions, especially in the context of novel mRNA-vaccines, is unknown. Methods. Peripheral blood samples from 26 pSS patients were compared to 6 healthy controls before Coronavirus-2 (CoV-2) vaccination (BNT162b2, ChAdOx1, mRNA-1273) and 7 days after secondary vaccination. Spike. 1 (S1)-receptor binding domain (RBD)-neutralizing IgG antibodies were measured in serum samples. Within peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), lymphocytes were characterized using spectral flow cytometry and B and T cell subpopulations were phenotypically analyzed. Results. Immunization induced CoV-2 specific serum antibodies in all pSS and healthy participants. When analyzing pSS and healthy individuals together, frequencies of circulating IgG+ RBD-binding antibody-secreting cells (ASC) and anti-CoV-2 serum titers correlated (r=0.42, p=0.022). Previously described alterations of peripheral B cells in pSS patients (like reduced memory B cells, increased naive and transitional B cells and higher maturity of ASCs) remained stable during vaccination. Also the subset distribution of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells mainly stayed unchanged. However, CD4+CXCR5-PD-1+ T cells phenotypically mimicking peripheral helper TPH cells increased in pSS patients comparing pre- and post-vaccination (p=0.020), while circulating CD4+CXCR5+PD-1+ follicular helper TFH cells declined (p=0.024). Conclusions. An immune reaction induced by vaccination with the novel mRNA technology yields adequate antibody production and vaccine specific lymphocytes in pSS patients and controls. However, no major changes within the typical composition of lymphocyte subpopulations of pSS patients were observed despite small changes in TPH and TFH subsets.