Reduced Humoral and Cellular Immune Response to Primary COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination in Kidney Transplanted Children Aged 5–11 Years
Jasmin K. Lalia,
Raphael Schild,
Marc Lütgehetmann,
Gabor A. Dunay,
Tilmann Kallinich,
Robin Kobbe,
Mona Massoud,
Jun Oh,
Leonora Pietzsch,
Ulf Schulze-Sturm,
Catharina Schuetz,
Freya Sibbertsen,
Fabian Speth,
Sebastian Thieme,
Mario Witkowski,
Reinhard Berner,
Ania C. Muntau,
Søren W. Gersting,
Nicole Toepfner,
Julia Pagel,
Kevin Paul
Affiliations
Jasmin K. Lalia
University Children’s Research, UCR@Kinder-UKE, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Raphael Schild
University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Marc Lütgehetmann
Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Gabor A. Dunay
University Children’s Research, UCR@Kinder-UKE, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Tilmann Kallinich
Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Robin Kobbe
Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development (IIRVD), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Mona Massoud
Therapeutic Gene Regulation, Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum (DRFZ), An Institute of the Leibniz Association, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Jun Oh
University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Leonora Pietzsch
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Ulf Schulze-Sturm
University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Catharina Schuetz
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Freya Sibbertsen
University Children’s Research, UCR@Kinder-UKE, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Fabian Speth
University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Sebastian Thieme
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Mario Witkowski
Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Laboratory of Innate Immunity, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Reinhard Berner
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Ania C. Muntau
University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Søren W. Gersting
University Children’s Research, UCR@Kinder-UKE, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Nicole Toepfner
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Julia Pagel
University Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Kevin Paul
University Children’s Research, UCR@Kinder-UKE, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
The situation of limited data concerning the response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations in immunocom-promised children hinders evidence-based recommendations. This prospective observational study investigated humoral and T cell responses after primary BNT162b2 vaccination in secondary immunocompromised and healthy children aged 5–11 years. Participants were categorized as: children after kidney transplantation (KTx, n = 9), proteinuric glomerulonephritis (GN, n = 4) and healthy children (controls, n = 8). Expression of activation-induced markers and cytokine secretion were determined to quantify the T cell response from PBMCs stimulated with peptide pools covering the spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan Hu-1 and Omicron BA.5. Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain were quantified in serum. Seroconversion was detected in 56% of KTx patients and in 100% of the GN patients and controls. Titer levels were significantly higher in GN patients and controls than in KTx patients. In Ktx patients, the humoral response increased after a third immunization. No differences in the frequency of antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells between all groups were observed. T cells showed a predominant anti-viral capacity in their secreted cytokines; however, this capacity was reduced in KTx patients. This study provides missing evidence concerning the humoral and T cell response in immunocompromised children after COVID-19 vaccination.
