Publications by authors named "Laura Y L Kummer"
Article Synopsis
- Methotrexate (MTX) is a common medicine for rheumatoid arthritis, but it may affect how well people’s immune systems respond to vaccines and infections.
- In a study, researchers looked at how MTX treatment affected immune responses in patients who received a COVID-19 vaccine compared to healthy people and others not on MTX.
- They found that while many immune cells were similar between patients and controls, those on MTX had fewer activated CD4 T cells, leading to slower antibody responses after vaccination.
Background And Purpose: There are concerns for safety regarding SARS-CoV-2 vaccines for patients with autoimmune neuromuscular disease. We compared daily functioning using disease-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) before and after SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations.
Methods: In this substudy of a prospective observational cohort study (Target-to-B!), patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), and idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 were included.
T cell activation markers CD38 and HLA-DR indicative of non-seroconversion in anti-CD20-treated patients with multiple sclerosis following SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
August 2024
Article Synopsis
- mRNA vaccines effectively protect against SARS-CoV-2 in healthy individuals, but their effectiveness in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with ocrelizumab (OCR) is unclear.
- A study found that 63% of OCR-treated MS patients did not produce detectable antibodies after vaccination, and they showed lower antibody responses compared to healthy subjects.
- The research suggests that scheduling vaccinations carefully for OCR-treated patients can improve their immune responses, highlighting potential markers (CD38 and HLA-DR) for assessing vaccine efficacy in these patients.
Background: Rheumatoid factors (RFs) are autoantibodies that target the Fc region of IgG, and are found in patients with rheumatic diseases as well as in the healthy population. Many studies suggest that an immune trigger may (transiently) elicit RF responses. However, discrepancies between different studies make it difficult to determine if and to which degree RF reactivity can be triggered by vaccination or infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The noninflammatory immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) is linked to tolerance and is unique to humans. Although poorly understood, prolonged antigenic stimulation and IL-4-signaling along the T helper 2-axis may be instrumental in IgG4 class switching. Recently, repeated SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination has been linked to IgG4 skewing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) on immunosuppressants (ISPs) may have impaired long-term humoral immune responses and increased disease activity after SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to investigate long-term humoral immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 and increased disease activity after a primary SARS-CoV-2 infection in unvaccinated IMID patients on ISPs.
Methods: IMID patients on active treatment with ISPs and controls (i.
For patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), concerns exist about increased disease activity after vaccination. We aimed to assess changes in disease activity after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with IMIDs, and determine risk factors for increased disease activity. In this substudy of a prospective observational cohort study (Target-to-B!), we included patients with IMIDs who received a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSARS-CoV-2 omicron breakthrough infections in patients with multiple sclerosis.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
April 2023
Background: It is unclear which patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are most susceptible for omicron breakthrough infections.
Methods: We assessed omicron breakthrough infections in vaccinated patients with MS with and without disease-modifying therapies enrolled in an ongoing large prospective study. We longitudinally studied humoral responses after primary and booster vaccinations and breakthrough infections.
Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, certain disease modifying therapies (DMTs) used in multiple sclerosis (MS), such as anti-CD20 therapies, have been associated with decreased humoral responses after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Hybrid immunity, referring to immunity after both vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection might increase humoral responses.
Methods: This was a substudy of two prospective cohort studies on SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination.
Ocrelizumab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, counteracts induction of humoral immune responses after severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccinations in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed to assess if serum ocrelizumab concentration measured at the time of vaccination could predict the humoral response after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. In 52 patients with MS, we found ocrelizumab concentration at the time of vaccination to be a good predictor for SARS-CoV-2 IgG anti-RBD titers after vaccination (comparable to B-cell count).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients affected by different types of autoimmune diseases, including common conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are often treated with immunosuppressants to suppress disease activity. It is not fully understood how the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific humoral and cellular immunity induced by infection and/or upon vaccination is affected by immunosuppressants.
Methods: The dynamics of cellular immune reactivation upon vaccination of SARS-CoV-2 experienced MS patients treated with the humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody ocrelizumab (OCR) and RA patients treated with methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy were analyzed at great depth via high-dimensional flow cytometry of whole blood samples upon vaccination with the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine.
Objectives: To evaluate whether a third vaccination shows an added effect on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) T-cell responses in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with ocrelizumab or fingolimod.
Methods: This is a substudy of a prospective multicenter study on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with immune-mediated diseases. Patients with MS treated with ocrelizumab, fingolimod, and no disease-modifying therapies and healthy controls were included.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigates how specific immunosuppressive therapies affect the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, focusing on the humoral immune response.
- - Conducted in the Netherlands with over 3,200 participants, the research compares the immune responses of patients on immunosuppressants to controls, including healthy individuals and those without systemic immunosuppressants.
- - Findings indicate that certain immunosuppressive treatments, like anti-CD20 therapy and S1P modulators, result in lower chances of achieving adequate immunity post-vaccination, regardless of the type of immune disorder present.