Medicina (Oct 2021)

A Seroprevalence Study of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

  • Mirko Di Ruscio,
  • Gianluigi Lunardi,
  • Dora Buonfrate,
  • Federico Gobbi,
  • Giulia Bertoli,
  • Donatella Piccoli,
  • Antonio Conti,
  • Andrea Geccherle,
  • Angela Variola

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57101048
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 57, no. 10
p. 1048

Abstract

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Background and Objectives: Studies have shown a lower prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including amongst those receiving biological therapy. Aims were to determine the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in IBD patients and to assess any association between seropositivity and IBD characteristics. Materials and Methods: Serum from adult IBD patients was prospectively collected between December 2020 and January 2021 and analyzed for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Information about IBD characteristics and SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk factors was collected and analyzed. Serum from non-IBD healthcare workers formed the control group. Results: 311 IBD patients on biologics and 75 on mesalazine were enrolled. Ulcerative colitis (UC) extension (p p = 0.009) and use of concomitant corticosteroids (p p = 0.145). Only a close contact with SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals and the use of non-FFP2 masks were independently associated with a higher likelihood of seropositivity amongst IBD patients. Conclusion: In IBD patients, the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies is not determined by their ongoing treatment. Disease-related characteristics are not associated with a greater risk of antibody seropositivity.

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