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Immune response to COVID-19 vaccines among people living with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection: a retrospective cohort study from Iran

  • SI: HTLV-1 Revisited
  • Published:
Journal of NeuroVirology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination is still unclear in individuals with underlying diseases such as HTLV-1 infection. This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the humoral response of COVID-19 vaccines among people living with HTLV-1 (PLHTLV) in northeastern Iran. From December 2021 to October 2022, eighty-six HTLV-1+ subjects (50 males and 36 females; 47.7 ± 11.2 years) and 90 HTLV-1 seronegative individuals (age- and sex-matched convenient samples) were enrolled. The humoral immune response was evaluated by measuring different COVID-19 Abs in serum samples at least 28 days after receiving 2nd or 3rd doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Throughout all three rounds of immunization, Sinopharm was the most commonly used COVID-19 vaccine across all three immunization rounds. Compared to the HTLV-1− group, a significantly lower frequency of all four Abs activity was observed among PLHTLV:anti-nucleocapsid (66.3% vs 86.7%, p = 0·001), anti-spike (91.9% vs 98.9%, p = 0·027), RBD (90.7% vs 97.8%, p = 0·043), and neutralizing Abs (75.6% vs 95.5%, p < 0·001). Also, the frequency of all Abs in 28 patients with HAM/TSP was higher than that of 58 asymptomatic carriers, although this difference was statistically significant only in the case of anti-spike Abs (p = 0.002). Notably, PLHTLV-vaccinated against COVID-19 demonstrated significantly lower antibody activities, indicating a reduced humoral immune response to COVID-19 vaccines.

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All data supporting this study's findings is included in the manuscript and available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors especially thank the Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology, Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR) for granted this study. The authors thank the Vice-Chancellor of Medicine, ACECR-Razavi Khorasan, Mashhad, Iran for their valuable help and support.

Funding

This study was supported financially by the Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology, Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR), under Grant [ACECR 3101–20].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Blood Borne Infections Research Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Ferdowsi University Campus, Azadi-Square, Mashhad, 9177949367, Iran

    Reza Jafarzadeh Esfehani, Arman Mosavat, Azam Shafaei, Maryam Shahi, Hamid Reza Bidkhori & Mohammad Reza Hedayati-Moghaddam

  2. Immunology Research Center, Inflammation and Inflammatory Diseases Division, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Zohreh Vahidi & Houshang Rafatpanah

  3. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Research Department, Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Mashhad, Iran

    Mohammad Shariati

  4. Clinical Laboratory Diagnostic Center, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), Razavi Khorasan Branch, Mashhad, Iran

    Azam Shafaei & Maryam Shahi

  5. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, 917699199, Iran

    Reza Boostani

Authors
  1. Reza Jafarzadeh Esfehani
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  2. Zohreh Vahidi
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  3. Mohammad Shariati
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  4. Arman Mosavat
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  5. Azam Shafaei
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  6. Maryam Shahi
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  7. Houshang Rafatpanah
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  8. Hamid Reza Bidkhori
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  9. Reza Boostani
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  10. Mohammad Reza Hedayati-Moghaddam
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Contributions

Conception and design of the study: RJE, AM, HR, and HRB; Performing the experiments: ZV, MS, AM, AS and MS; Research director and data analysis: MRH; Research advisors: HR and RB; Drafting, revision and finalization of the manuscript: RJE and MRH. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Reza Boostani or Mohammad Reza Hedayati-Moghaddam.

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Jafarzadeh Esfehani, R., Vahidi, Z., Shariati, M. et al. Immune response to COVID-19 vaccines among people living with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection: a retrospective cohort study from Iran. J. Neurovirol. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-023-01176-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-023-01176-6

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