BMC Infectious Diseases (Jan 2024)

Impaired humoral immunity following COVID-19 vaccination in HTLV-1 carriers

  • Takuro Kameda,
  • Atae Utsunomiya,
  • Nobuaki Otsuka,
  • Yoko Kubuki,
  • Taisuke Uchida,
  • Kotaro Shide,
  • Ayako Kamiunten,
  • Nobuaki Nakano,
  • Masahito Tokunaga,
  • Takayoshi Miyazono,
  • Yoshikiyo Ito,
  • Kentaro Yonekura,
  • Toshiro Kawakita,
  • Keiichi Akizuki,
  • Yuki Tahira,
  • Masayoshi Karasawa,
  • Tomonori Hidaka,
  • Ayaka Konagata,
  • Norifumi Taniguchi,
  • Yuma Nagatomo,
  • Fumiko Kogo,
  • Koichiro Shimizu,
  • Hiroaki Ueno,
  • Junzo Ishizaki,
  • Naoya Takahashi,
  • Yoshihiko Ikei,
  • Michihiro Hidaka,
  • Hideki Yamaguchi,
  • Kazuya Shimoda

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-024-09001-z
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Background Whether human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) carriers can develop sufficient humoral immunity after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination is unknown. Methods To investigate humoral immunity after COVID-19 vaccination in HTLV-1 carriers, a multicenter, prospective observational cohort study was conducted at five institutions in southwestern Japan, an endemic area for HTLV-1. HTLV-1 carriers and HTLV-1-negative controls were enrolled for this study from January to December 2022. During this period, the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine was actively administered. HTLV-1 carriers were enrolled during outpatient visits, while HTLV-1-negative controls included health care workers and patients treated by participating institutions for diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. The main outcome was the effect of HTLV-1 infection on the plasma anti-COVID-19 spike IgG (IgG-S) titers after the third dose, assessed by multivariate linear regression with other clinical factors. Results We analyzed 181 cases (90 HTLV-1 carriers, 91 HTLV-1-negative controls) after receiving the third dose. HTLV-1 carriers were older (median age 67.0 vs. 45.0 years, p < 0.001) and more frequently had diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia than did HTLV-1-negative controls (60.0% vs. 27.5%, p < 0.001). After the third dose, the IgG-S titers decreased over time in both carriers and controls. Multivariate linear regression in the entire cohort showed that time since the third dose, age, and HTLV-1 infection negatively influenced IgG-S titers. After adjusting for confounders such as age, or presence of diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia between carriers and controls using the overlap weighting propensity score method, and performing weighted regression analysis in the entire cohort, both time since the third dose and HTLV-1 infection negatively influenced IgG-S titers. Conclusions The humoral immunity after the third vaccination dose is impaired in HTLV-1 carriers; thus, customized vaccination schedules may be necessary for them.

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