Covid-19 vaccine immunogenicity in people living with HIV-1

Nault, L.; Marchitto, L.; Goyette, G.; Tremblay-Sher, D.; Fortin, C.; Martel-Laferriere, V.; Trottier, B.; Richard, J.; Durand, M.; Kaufmann, D. E.; Finzi, A.; Tremblay, C.

doi:10.1101/2021.08.13.456258

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.08.13.456258

Covid-19 vaccine immunogenicity in people living with HIV-1

Nault, L.·Marchitto, L.·Goyette, G.·Tremblay-Sher, D.·Fortin, C.·Martel-Laferriere, V.·Trottier, B.·Richard, J.·Durand, M.·Kaufmann, D. E.·Finzi, A.·Tremblay, C.

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Abstract

IntroductionCOVID-19 vaccine efficacy has been evaluated in large clinical trials and in real-world situation. Although they have proven to be very effective in the general population, little is known about their efficacy in immunocompromised patients. HIV-infected individuals response to vaccine may vary according to the type of vaccine and their level of immunosuppression. We evaluated immunogenicity of an mRNA anti-SARS CoV-2 vaccine in HIV-positive individuals. MethodsHIV-positive individuals (n=121) were recruited from HIV clinics in Montreal and stratified according to their CD4 counts. A control group of 20 health care workers naive to SARS CoV-2 was used. The participants Anti-RBD IgG responses were measured by ELISA at baseline and 3 to 4 weeks after receiving the first dose of an mRNA vaccine). ResultsEleven of 121 participants had anti-COVID-19 antibodies at baseline, and a further 4 had incomplete data for the analysis. Mean anti-RBD IgG responses were similar between between the HIV negative control group (n=20) and the combined HIV+ group (n=106) (p = 0.72). However, these responses were significantly lower in the group with <250 CD4 cells/mm3. (p<0.0001). Increasing age was independently associated with decreased immunogenicity. ConclusionHIV-positive individuals with CD4 counts over 250 cells/mm3 have an anti-RBD IgG response similar to the general population. However, HIV-positive individuals with the lowest CD4 counts (<250 cells/mm3) have a weaker response. These data would support the hypothesis that a booster dose might be needed in this subgroup of HIV-positive individuals, depending on their response to the second dose.

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Nault, L., Marchitto, L., Goyette, G., Tremblay-Sher, D., Fortin, C., Martel-Laferriere, V., Trottier, B., Richard, J., Durand, M., Kaufmann, D. E., Finzi, A., Tremblay, C.. 2021-08-13. Covid-19 vaccine immunogenicity in people living with HIV-1. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.13.456258

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