Mult Scler . T cell responses to COVID-19 infection and vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis receiving disease-modifying therapy

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Mult Scler


. 2022 Nov 28;13524585221134216.
doi: 10.1177/13524585221134216. Online ahead of print.
T cell responses to COVID-19 infection and vaccination in patients with multiple sclerosis receiving disease-modifying therapy


Anthony T Reder ¹ , Olaf Stuve ² , Stephanie K Tankou ³ , Thomas P Leist ⁴



Affiliations

• PMID: 36440826
• DOI: 10.1177/13524585221134216

Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder marked by accumulating immune-mediated damage to the central nervous system. The dysregulated immune system in MS combined with immune effects of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) used in MS treatment could alter responses to infections, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Most of the literature on immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination, in both the general population and patients with MS on DMTs, has focused on humoral immunity. However, immune response to COVID-19 involves multiple lines of defense, including T cells.
Objective and methods: We review innate and adaptive immunity to COVID-19 and expand on the role of T cells in mediating protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection and in responses to COVID-19 vaccination in MS.
Results: Innate, humoral, and T cell immune responses combat COVID-19 and generate protective immunity. Assays detecting cytokine expression by T cells show an association between SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses and milder/asymptomatic COVID-19 and protective immune memory.
Conclusion: Studies of COVID-19 immunity in people with MS on DMTs should ideally include comprehensive assessment of innate, humoral, and T cell responses.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T cell; disease-modifying therapy; multiple sclerosis.