Blood, nasal and airway immune responses to SARS-COV2 vaccination in COPD patients and healthy subjects

ABSTRACT

Background: Immune response to vaccination differs between individuals. We compared SARS-COV-2 vaccine specific immune responses in COPD patients versus healthy controls (HC) following vaccination. Systemic, nasal and sputum samples were used to examine different anatomical locations. Method(s) Blood, plasma, nasal and sputum samples were collected from COPD patients (n=11) and HC (n=16) at least 3 weeks post their 2nd SARS-COV-2 vaccination. Spike-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) A and G levels in plasma, nasal and sputum samples were measured by ELISA, while cellular immunity in blood was assessed by measuring spike-protein induced IFNgamma. All subjects had no history of SARS-COV-2 infection. Immune response levels were compared to samples from unvaccinated subjects. Result(s) Anti-spike IgG and IgA levels were increased in plasma from vaccinated individuals, as was cellular immunity. IgG, but not IgA, was increased in nasal (IgG 0.8 Vs 9.1 ng/ml p=0.02;IgA 11.6 Vs 11.6 p=0.5) and sputum (IgG 0.9 Vs 11.0 ng/ml p<0.01;IgA 31.7 Vs 27.0 p=0.12) samples from vaccinated individuals. Levels of immune responses to vaccination were similar in both COPD patients and HC (Table 1). Plasma IgG levels correlated with nasal (Rho 0.86 p<0.001) and sputum (Rho 0.78 p<0.001) levels. Conclusion(s) Vaccination induced immune responses in the lungs, as well as blood and nose, equally in both COPD patients and healthy subjects. (Table Presented).