Key result
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination shows no link to new autoantibodies, even in vaccine-associated myocarditis patients.
Why the study?
Rare vaccine toxicities and observations of autoantibody development after SARS-CoV-2 infection raised questions about whether COVID-19 mRNA vaccines promote autoantibodies, particularly in autoimmune patients.
Does SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination promote the development of autoantibodies in healthy individuals, autoimmune patients, or patients with vaccine-associated myocarditis?
Cohort (n=191)
Yes
Does SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination promote the development of autoantibodies in healthy individuals, autoimmune patients, or patients with vaccine-associated myocarditis?
p-value: p=0.075
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines elicit robust anti-viral immunity without triggering the autoantibody responses typically observed during acute COVID-19 infection, even in patients with autoimmune diseases or vaccine-associated myocarditis.
Supports mRNA vaccine safety on autoantibody induction in studied groups; leaves open broader generalizability and long-term effects.
mRNA-based vaccines dramatically reduce the occurrence and severity of COVID-19, but are associated with rare vaccine-related adverse effects. These toxicities, coupled with observations that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with autoantibody development, raise questions whether COVID-19 vaccines may also promote the development of autoantibodies, particularly in autoimmune patients. Here we used Rapid Extracellular Antigen Profiling to characterize self- and viral-directed humoral responses after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination in 145 healthy individuals, 38 patients with autoimmune diseases, and 8 patients with mRNA vaccine-associated myocarditis. We confirm that most individuals generated robust virus-specific antibody responses post vaccination, but that the quality of this response is impaired in autoimmune patients on certain modes of immunosuppression. Autoantibody dynamics are remarkably stable in all vaccinated patients compared to COVID-19 patients that exhibit an increased prevalence of new autoantibody reactivities. Patients with vaccine-associated myocarditis do not have increased autoantibody reactivities relative to controls. In summary, our findings indicate that mRNA vaccines decouple SARS-CoV-2 immunity from autoantibody responses observed during acute COVID-19.
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Jaycox et al. (2023) conducted a cohort in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination response (n=191). SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination vs. Unvaccinated controls and acute COVID-19 patients was evaluated on Change in autoantibody reactivities (REAP score) (p=0.075). SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination did not elicit new autoantibody responses in healthy individuals, autoimmune patients, or patients with vaccine-associated myocarditis, decoupling viral immunity from the humoral autoimmunity observed during acute COVID-19.
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