Cell-Mediated Immune Response after COVID 19 Vaccination in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Introduction Most patients with IBD mount an antibody response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, but few studies have evaluated the cell mediated immune response (CMIR). Methods We performed a prospective study (HERCULES) to evaluate CMIR among patients with IBD and healthy controls (HC) after completion of the primary series of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Results One hundred 158 patients with IBD and 20 HC were enrolled. The majority (89%) of IBD patients developed a CMIR which was not different than HC (94%, p=0.6667). There was no significant difference (p=0.5488) in CMIR response between those not immunosuppressed (median 255 Spike T cells/million PBMC, IQR 146, 958) and immunosuppressed (median 377, IQR 123, 1440). There was also no correlation between antibody responses and CMIR (p=0.5215) Discussion Most patients with IBD achieved CMIR to a COVID-19 vaccine. Future studies are needed evaluating sustained CMIR and clinical outcomes.