Impaired Cellular Immunity and Elevated Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells in Kidney Transplant Recipients with Impaired Antibody Response to Covid-19 Vaccination
1AdventHealth Transplant Institute, Orlando, FL, 2Plexision, Inc, Pittsburgh, PA
Meeting: 2022 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: 246
Keywords: COVID-19, Immunogenicity, Kidney transplantation, Vaccination
Topic: Clinical Science » Infection Disease » 25 - Kidney Infectious Non-Polyoma & Non-Viral Hepatitis
Session Information
Session Name: COVID-19 Infections Part 2: All Organs
Session Type: Rapid Fire Oral Abstract
Date: Monday, June 6, 2022
Session Time: 3:30pm-5:00pm
Presentation Time: 4:00pm-4:10pm
Location: Hynes Ballroom B
*Purpose: To evaluate post-vaccination cellular and antibody (Ab) immunity after COVID-19 vaccination in single blood samples from 17 kidney transplant (KT) recipients who had received COVID-19 vaccination
*Methods: We measured frequencies of peripheral blood T- and B-cells which expressed the inflammatory marker CD154 after overnight stimulation with peptide mixtures representing the spike protein S, its S2 component which is conserved between SARS-CoV-2 and human coronaviruses, and the S1 component, which is specific to SARS-CoV-2 and also contains its receptor binding domain (RBD). Serum from each sample was assayed for anti-RBD and anti-S IgG Abs with ELISA. Optical density at 450nm (OD450) of 0.45 or greater implied presence of either Ab. Frequencies of monocytic and polymorphonuclear (PMN) myeloid-derived suppressor cell were also measured with flow cytometry.
*Results: Median age was 40 yrs (range 25 to 83), male:female gender distribution was 7:8. All recipients received mRNA vaccination. Anti-S-IgG and anti-RBD-IgG were detected in 11 (Ab+) and were absent in four (Ab-). Compared with Ab+ KT recipients, those who were Ab- had lower frequencies of S2-reactive and S-reactive B-cells (p<0.05), CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells (Table 1, Fig 1). S1-reactive T-cell and B-cells were non-detectable. Frequencies of PMN-MDSC were numerically higher in Ab- compared with Ab+ KT recipients (Mean ± SEM 38.9±8.1 vs 19.4±1.8, p-value 0.1, NS). Significant negative correlation was observed between PMN-MDSC frequencies and strength of anti-RBD IgG and anti-SPIKE IgG (Fig 1).
*Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination results in spike antigen reactive T- and B-cells in KT recipients who develop Abs after vaccination. Failure of an Ab response is associated with impaired B-cell responses to the spike antigen and an increase in circulating polymorphonuclear myeloid derived suppressor cells
| S2 antigen | S antigen | ||||||
| Ab- | Ab+ | p-value | Ab- | Ab+ | p-value | ||
| CD4 (%) | Mean±SEM | 0.1±0.06 | 1.2±0.6 | 0.1, NS | 0.08 ±0.05 | 1.0±0.5 | 0.08, NS |
| CD8 (%) | Mean±SEM | 0.3 ±0.18 | 1.4±0.7 | 0.14, NS | 0.4±0.23 | 1.2±0.5 | 0.19, NS |
| CD19 (%) | Mean±SEM | 0.75±0.37 | 3.5±1.0 | 0.03 | 0.78±0.45 | 3.2±0.9 | 0.04 |
Bar graph: S2- and S-Ag reactive B-cells in Ab- (red) vs Ab+ (green) patients. Scatterplot: correlation between PMN-MDSC frequencies and strength of anti-RBD and anti-spike IgG (OD450)
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Nibhanupudy B, Mcdonald K, Angelis M, Chin LT, Wai P, Metzger R, Ashokkumar C, Sindhi R. Impaired Cellular Immunity and Elevated Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells in Kidney Transplant Recipients with Impaired Antibody Response to Covid-19 Vaccination [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2022; 22 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/impaired-cellular-immunity-and-elevated-myeloid-derived-suppressor-cells-in-kidney-transplant-recipients-with-impaired-antibody-response-to-covid-19-vaccination/. Accessed May 18, 2025.« Back to 2022 American Transplant Congress