Interferon-gamma release assays outcomes in healthy subjects following BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination

• Published in: Rheumatology international Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 449 - 456
• Main Authors: Kurteva, Ekaterina, Vasilev, Georgi, Tumangelova-Yuzeir, Kalina, Ivanova, Irena, Ivanova-Todorova, Ekaterina, Velikova, Tsvetelina, Kyurkchiev, Dobroslav
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; BNT162 Vaccine; Coronaviruses; COVID-19 - immunology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 vaccines; Female; Humans; Immune response; Immunity, Humoral - immunology; Immunogenicity, Vaccine - immunology; Interferon-gamma Release Tests; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Observational Research; Rheumatology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; COVID-19; T cytotoxic cells; Interferon-gamma; BNT162b2 vaccine; SARS-CoV-2; Immune memory; T helper cells; Interferon-gamma release assay; mRNA COVID-19 vaccine; Cellular immune response
• ISSN: 0172-8172; 1437-160X; 1437-160X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00296-022-05091-7

The pathogenesis of COVID-19 involves both humoral and cellular immunological responses, with cell-mediated immunity being discussed as the primary and most effective immune response to viral infection. It is supposed that COVID-19 vaccines also elicited effective cell immune response, and specifically IFNγ secreted by SARS-CoV-2-specific T-helper 1 and Tcytotoxic cells. Using an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) test, we aimed to monitor cellular post-vaccination immunity in healthy subjects vaccinated with BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty). We tested 37 healthcare workers (mean age 54.3 years, range 28–72, 22 females, 15 males) following COVID-19 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and 15 healthy unvaccinated native persons as control subjects using QuantiFERON SARS-CoV-2 RUO test, performed approximately 1 month after vaccination. We also measured virus-neutralizing antibodies. Thirty-one out of 37 tested subjects had significantly raised levels of SARS-CoV-2 specific IFNγ against SARS-CoV-2 Ag1 and Ag2 1 month following COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, we found a significant difference between the IFNγ levels in fully vaccinated subjects and the control group ( p  < 0.01).We also found a substantial correlation ( r  = 0.9; p  < 0.01) between virus-neutralizing antibodies titers and IFNγ concentrations released by T cells. We believe that IGRA tests are an excellent tool to assess the development of a post-vaccination immune response when immunized against SARS-CoV-2. However, IGRA-based tests should be performed within a few weeks following vaccination. Therefore, we can speculate that the application of these tests to assess long-term immune response is debatable.