Neutralizing Antibody and T-Cell Responses against SARS-CoV-2 Wild-Type and Variants of Concern in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Subjects after ChAdOx-1/ChAdOx-1 Homologous Vaccination: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Data on immunogenicity of adenovirus-vectored vaccine in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients is limited. Therefore, we aimed to determine the humoral and cellular immune responses after homologous ChAdOx-1 vaccination in subjects with COPD. COPD subjects and age- and sex-matched healthy elderly receiving ChAdOx-1 homologous vaccination were included. The levels of neutralizing antibodies (NAb) and specific CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 wild-type (WT) and variants of concern (VOCs: Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron) were measured. Eight COPD patients were matched with eight control participants. After vaccination for 4 and 12 weeks, % inhibition of NAb against Alpha, Beta, and Delta in both groups were comparable and significantly higher than baseline. The percentage inhibition of NAb at the 12th week was significantly dropped from the 4th week in each group. The NAb against the Omicron variant, however, were much lower than Alpha, Beta, Delta variants. The increasing trend in the number of CD4 T-cells producing TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-10, and FasL upon stimulation with spike peptides of WT and VOCs was observed in COPD patients compared to the healthy group. These responses were not observed in CD8 T-cells. Homologous ChAdOx-1 vaccination could induce comparable NAb against the SARS-CoV-2 WT, Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants between COPD and healthy elderly. The CD4 T-cell responses did not differ between COPD patients and healthy control.