High seroconversion rate and SARS-CoV-2 Delta neutralization in people with HIV vaccinated with BNT162b2

  1. Valérie Pourcher
  2. Lisa Belin
  3. Cathia Soulie
  4. Michelle Rosenzwajg
  5. Stéphane Marot
  6. Karine Lacombe
  7. Nadia Valin
  8. Gilles Pialoux
  9. Ruxandra Calin
  10. Christia Palacios
  11. Isabelle Malet
  12. Karen Zafilaza
  13. Roland Tubiana
  14. Marc-Antoine Valantin
  15. David Klatzmann
  16. Vincent Calvez
  17. Noémie Simon-Tillaux
  18. Anne-Geneviève Marcelin

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Abstract

To assess humoral responses to SARS-CoV-2 Delta-variant in people with HIV (PWH) after BNT162b2-vaccination.

Design:

Multicenter cohort study of PWH with CD4 + cell count less than 500 cells/μl and viral load less than 50 copies/ml on stable antiretroviral therapy for at least 3 months.

Methods:

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding-domain IgG antibodies (anti-RBD IgG) were quantified and neutralization capacity was evaluated by ELISA/GenScript and virus-neutralization-test against the D614G-strain, beta and delta variants before vaccination (day 0) and 1 month after complete schedule (M1).

Results:

We enrolled 97 PWH, 85 received two vaccine shots. The seroconversion rate for anti-RBD IgG was 97% [95% confidence interval (CI) 90–100%] at M1. Median (IQR) anti-RBD IgG titer was 0.97 (0.97–5.3) BAU/ml at D0 and 1219 (602–1929) at M1. Neutralization capacity improved between D0 (15%; 50% CI 8–23%) and M1 (94%; 95% CI 87–98%) ( P  < 0.0001). At M1, NAbs against the D614G strain, beta and delta variants were present in 82, 77, and 84% PWH, respectively. The seroconversion rate and median anti-RBD-IgG level were 91% and 852 BAU/ml, respectively, in PWH with CD4 + cell count less than 250 ( n  = 13) and 98% and 1270 BAU/ml for CD4 + greater than 250 ( n  = 64) ( P  = 0.3994). NAbs were present in 73% of PWH with CD4 + less than 250 and 97% of those with CD4 + cell count greater than 250 ( P  = 0.0130). NAbs against beta variant were elicited in 50% in PWH with CD4 + cell count less than 250 and in 81% of those with CD4 + cell count greater than 250 ( P  = 0.0292). CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell counts were unchanged, whereas CD19 + B-cell counts decreased after vaccination(208 ± 124 at D0 vs. 188 ± 112 at M1, P  < 0.01). No notable adverse effects or COVID-19 cases were reported.

Conclusion:

Seroconversion rates were high, with delta-neutralization rates similar to those for the D61G strain, after a two-dose BNT162b2 vaccination in PWH.

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  1. Version published to 10.1097/qad.0000000000003300
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.12.07.21267395: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: All patients were informed and gave their written consent.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    SARS-CoV-2 serology, neutralizing antibodies: Qualitative detection of nucleocapsid protein (anti-N) IgG Abs and quantification of anti-spike RBD IgG Ab (SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant, Abbott, Rungis, France) were assessed by automated chemiluminescence assay on Abbott Alinity i platform, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
    anti-spike RBD IgG
    suggested: None
    SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant , Abbott , Rungis , France
    suggested: None
    For post-hoc analysis of patients according to their history of COVID-19, we restricted the sample of patients to those without any unknown SARS-CoV-2 infection (i.e. with anti-N antibodies at baseline, but without known clinical history of COVID-19), to compare patients with 2-shots versus 1-shot and a history of COVID-19.
    anti-N
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    SARS-CoV-2 serology, neutralizing antibodies: Qualitative detection of nucleocapsid protein (anti-N) IgG Abs and quantification of anti-spike RBD IgG Ab (SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant, Abbott, Rungis, France) were assessed by automated chemiluminescence assay on Abbott Alinity i platform, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
    Abbott
    suggested: (Abbott, RRID:SCR_010477)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: We found the following clinical trial numbers in your paper:

    IdentifierStatusTitle
    NCT04844489RecruitingStudy of the Humoral Response to SARS-CoV-2 Variants and of …

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.12.07.21267395v1 on medRxiv