The following is a summary of “Factors Associated With Vaccine-Induced T-Cell Immune Responses Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Kidney Transplant Recipients,” published in the March 2023 issue of Infectious Diseases by Tometten, et al.
For a study, researchers sought to investigate the T-cell immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Despite the importance of vaccination for KTRs, their immune response to the vaccine is often impaired.
They found that KTRs had a lower frequency of spike-specific T cells compared to immunocompetent controls, which correlated with the spike-specific antibodies’ level. They also identified several positive predictors for detecting vaccine-induced T cells, including spike-specific antibodies, receiving a combination of messenger RNA and vector vaccine, and more time after transplantation. Finally, after three or four doses of the vaccine, they looked at the T-cell immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in 148 KTRs, including 35 KTRs who later contracted the virus.
Interestingly, the T-cell response was significantly higher in infected KTRs than in vaccinated KTRs who did not. The finding suggested that hybrid immunity (combining both humoral and T-cell immunity) may be more robust in KTRs.
The study highlighted the importance of monitoring humoral and T-cell immunity in KTRs following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The findings suggested that enhancing T-cell immunity may improve vaccine efficacy in this population. Moreover, the results provided evidence for the effectiveness of hybrid immunity in KTRs, which could have implications for the development of future vaccines and immunotherapies for other diseases.