ArticleVaccine2023
Rheumatoid arthritis and older age are associated with lower humoral and cellular immune response to primary series COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
Article in Vaccine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Autoimmune diseases in the era of COVID-19: emerging mechanisms, clinical implications, vaccine considerations, and future directions.The Korean journal of internal medicine · 2026Review
- Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Following COVID-19 Vaccination in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Vaccines · 2025Review
- Review
- Article
- Effectiveness and Safety of the COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Real-World Setting.Vaccines · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
23 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePeople with autoimmune disease have worse COVID-19 infection-related outcomes, lower antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccine, and higher rates of breakthrough infection. Immunosuppressive medications used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are associated with lower COVID-19 vaccine responses, though independent contributions of comorbidities, T-cell immunity, and age are less clear. We sought to test the hypothesis that RA, immunosuppressive medications used to treat RA, and older age, contribute to reduced B and T cell response to COVID-19 vaccine.
methodsWe evaluated serum samples, taken the day of 1st vaccine dose, the day of 2nd dose, 2-6 weeks after 2nd dose, 7-12 weeks after 2nd dose, 13-24 weeks after 2nd dose, and 2-6 weeks after the 3rd dose, for anti-spike IgG and neutralizing antibody levels to Wuhan and Omicron BA.1 and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for spike-specific IFN-γ and IL-2 production by ELISPOT assay in 46 RA and 101 non-autoimmune control participants before and after the primary series COVID-19 mRNA vaccination.
resultsRA participants had lower spike-specific IgG and Wuhan-strain neutralizing antibody levels 2-6 weeks compared to controls after the second dose of primary vaccine series. Neutralizing antibody levels against Omicron BA.1 were low in both groups. IFN-γ production correlated with Wuhan neutralizing antibody levels, while older age negatively correlated with spike-specific IL-2, IFN-γ and IgG. Lower antibody levels were associated with older age, RA status, and medication usage, while lower T cell responses were associated primarily with older age.
conclusionsThese data indicate lower COVID-19 mRNA vaccine-induced antibody levels in persons with RA compared to individuals without RA, likely partially attributable to immune suppressive medications. At the same time, older age is associated with lower antibody and cellular immune response to COVID-19 vaccines.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.