Humoral Response in SARS-CoV-2 Convalescent Compared to Vaccinated Kidney Transplant Patients

Abstract

Solid organ transplant patients are at high risk for severe or fatal COVID-19 (1), even after two vaccinations (2). Recent studies show, that after a double vaccination course, the antibody response rate is as low as 48% (3). However, to our knowledge there is no data on differences in the natural or vaccineinduced SARS-CoV-2 humoral immunity evaluated in one and the same cohort of kidney transplant recipients (KTR). Here, we are reporting on and comparing the humoral response in 164 KTR (mean age 59.1 years (range 21-85 years), 61.6% male). The group included 142 patients who were vaccinated twice (72% Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine; 27% Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA-BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, 1% Oxford-AstraZeneca ChAdOx1-COVID-19 vaccine) and 22 patients after symptomatic and PCRconfirmed Covid-19. We assessed the humoral response on average (25th percentile, 75th percentile) 50 days (33.8, 62.0) after the second vaccine dose or 90 days (39.8, 143.0) after infection by quantifying anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG antibodies. Most patients were treated with tacrolimus (74%), mycophenolic acid (71%) and prednisolone (57%). Eight percent were treated with belatacept. Convalescent KTR were significantly younger (p 0.009), had lower eGFR (p 0.021) and were more often treated with prednisolone (p 0.042) as shown in Table 1. Seroconversion was defined as an anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody concentration above the respective cut-off value according to the manufacturer of the assay. Details about the assays in use and their cut-off values are given in the Supplementary Material.The seroconversion rate in convalescent patients was 90.9 and 48.6% in vaccinated patients (p < 0.001). In the patients treated with belatacept, only one out of 12 (8.3%) vaccinated individuals had a seroconversion, whereas both naturally infected patients showed a response. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis infection compared to vaccination [odds ratio (OR) 18.98; 95% CI: 3.41, 105.58] and transplantation vintage (OR 1.01; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.02) were associated with a significantly higher likelihood of seroconversion. On the other hand, older age (OR 0.95; 95% CI: 0.93, 0.99) and belatacept treatment (OR 0.13; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.68) significantly decreased the likelihood of seroconversion. All model coefficients and odds can be found in the Supplementary Table S1.Like our results in convalescent KTR, Magicova et al. recently found a preserved humoral response after SARS-CoV-2 infection comparable to immunocompetent persons in a large Czech cohort of 1,037 kidney transplant recipients with a seroprevalence of 6.8% during the second infection wave in fall 2020 (4). In line with our findings, recent data in dialysis patients also show a superior humoral immune response in convalescent compared to vaccinated patients (5). Natural infection seems to be a stronger and quantitatively higher antigenic challenge than vaccination. In contrast to intramuscular vaccination, natural infection stimulates the resident immune system of mucous membranes, especially designed to

Enhanced SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response After a Third Heterologous Vector Vaccine Ad26COVS1 Dose in mRNA Vaccine-Primed Kidney Transplant Recipients

“…We and others have shown that kidney transplant recipients (KTR) exhibit a reduced immune response with a seroconversion (SC) rate <50% after a regular 2-dose mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination regimen ( 1 , 2 ). Very limited data on a heterologous 3-dose vaccination with the vector vaccine Ad26COVS1 are available in this patient group.…”