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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1436491

Comprehensive analyses of immune activity in COVID-19-vaccinated Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis patients

Provisionally accepted
Agata Maciejewska Agata Maciejewska 1*Piotr Czernia Piotr Czernia 1Magdalena Piotrowska-Mieczkowska Magdalena Piotrowska-Mieczkowska 1Beata Wajda Beata Wajda 2Bartosz Słomiński Bartosz Słomiński 1Jan Romantowski Jan Romantowski 1Adam Sudoł Adam Sudoł 2Małgorzata Dąbrowska Małgorzata Dąbrowska 2Lucyna Górska Lucyna Górska 2Tomasz Smiatacz Tomasz Smiatacz 1Marek Niedoszytko Marek Niedoszytko 1Ewa Jassem Ewa Jassem 1Maria Skrzypkowska Maria Skrzypkowska 1Piotr Trzonkowski Piotr Trzonkowski 1
  • 1 Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland
  • 2 University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Pomeranian, Poland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal disease, characterized by impaired wound repair, tissue remodeling and fibrosis. Immune system may participate in the development and progression of the disease as indicated by altered activity in IPF sufferers.This study investigates the immune response to the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in patients with IPF compared to healthy controls, with a particular focus on evaluation of antibody responses, interferon-gamma release, cytokine profiling and a broad panel of immune cell subpopulations.IPF patients without prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2 had undetectable levels of anti-N IgG antibodies, highlighting their lack of previous infection. After vaccination, IPF patients showed a significant increase in anti-S1 IgG and IgA antibodies, though their levels were lower compared to healthy controls and convalescent IPF patients. Additionally, IPF patients exhibited altered proportions of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and effector T lymphocytes (Teffs) before and after vaccination. Specifically, IPF patients had higher percentages of Tregs with a Th2 phenotype and Th17 Tregs, along with reduced proportions of Th1/17 Tregs. Teffs in IPF patients showed a decrease in Th1-like and Th2-like populations after vaccination. Moreover, IPF patients demonstrated elevated populations of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (Tc) before vaccination and increased levels of γδ Tc cells throughout the study. Alterations in cytokine profiles were also observed, IPF patients showed higher levels of IL-6 and IL-22 compared to healthy controls. These findings suggest a distinct immune response in IPF patients to the COVID-19 vaccine, characterized by differences in antibody production, T cell differentiation and cytokine secretion compared to healthy individuals.

    Keywords: IPF, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, phenotype, Flow Cytometry, Antibodies, Cytokines, COVID-19, Vaccine

    Received: 22 May 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Maciejewska, Czernia, Piotrowska-Mieczkowska, Wajda, Słomiński, Romantowski, Sudoł, Dąbrowska, Górska, Smiatacz, Niedoszytko, Jassem, Skrzypkowska and Trzonkowski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Agata Maciejewska, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.