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Our objective was to characterize T and B cell responses to vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 antigens in immunocompromised rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. In 22 RA patients, clinical and biological variables were analyzed before and 4 weeks after each of 3 messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine doses and compared with unmatched healthy individuals. Sequentially sampled peripheral blood mononuclear cells and sera were collected to determine immune profiles and to analyze the T cell response to a spike peptide pool and B cell specificity to the receptor-binding domain (RBD). Anti-spike antibodies were detectable in 6 of 22 RA patients after 1 dose of vaccine with increasing titers after each booster dose, although the overall response was lower compared with that in healthy control individuals. Responding patients after the first dose were more likely to have RA antibodies and a higher baseline proportion of circulating follicular B cells. In RA patients, the mRNA vaccine elicited a robust CD4+ T response to a spike peptide pool following the first and second doses. Consistent with the serologies, RBD-specific B cells exhibited a modest increase after the first dose and the second dose resulted in marked increases only in a fraction of the RA patients to both ancestral and omicron RBD. Our results highlight the importance of multidose COVID-19 vaccination in RA patients to develop a protective humoral response. However, these patients rapidly develop specific T CD4+ responses, despite delayed B cell responses., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement. The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this study., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for Leukocyte Biology.)

Background: Following SARS-CoV-2 infection a significant proportion of convalescent individuals develop the post-COVID condition (PCC) that is characterized by wide spectrum of symptoms encompassing various organs. Even though the underlying pathophysiology of PCC is not known, detection of viral transcripts and antigens in tissues other than lungs raise the possibility that PCC may be a consequence of aberrant immune response to the viral antigens. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated B cell and antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 antigens in PCC patients who experienced mild COVID-19 disease during the pre-vaccination period of COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: The study subjects included unvaccinated male and female subjects who developed PCC or not (No-PCC) after clearing RT-PCR confirmed mild COVID-19 infection. SARS-CoV-2 D614G and omicron RBD specific B cell subsets in peripheral circulation were assessed by flow cytometry. IgG, IgG3 and IgA antibody titers toward RBD, spike and nucleocapsid antigens in the plasma were evaluated by ELISA., Results: The frequency of the B cells specific to D614G-RBD were comparable in convalescent groups with and without PCC in both males and females. Notably, in females with PCC, the anti-D614G RBD specific double negative (IgD - CD27 - ) B cells showed significant correlation with the number of symptoms at acute of infection. Anti-spike antibody responses were also higher at 3 months post-infection in females who developed PCC, but not in the male PCC group. On the other hand, the male PCC group also showed consistently high anti-RBD IgG responses compared to all other groups., Conclusions: The antibody responses to the spike protein, but not the anti-RBD B cell responses diverge between convalescent males and females who develop PCC. Our findings also suggest that sex-related factors may also be involved in the development of PCC via modulating antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 antigens., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Limoges, Quenum, Chowdhury, Rexhepi, Namvarpour, Akbari, Rioux-Perreault, Nandi, Lucier, Lemaire-Paquette, Premkumar, Durocher, Cantin, Lévesque, Dionne, Menendez, Ilangumaran, Allard-Chamard, Piché and Ramanathan.)

Purpose: A significant number of people will experience prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection that will greatly impact functional capacity and quality of life. The aim of this study was to identify trajectories of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and their predictors among adults diagnosed with COVID-19., Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of an ongoing prospective cohort study (BQC-19) including adults (≥18y) recruited from April 2020 to March 2022. Our primary outcome is HRQOL using the EQ-5D-5L scale. Sociodemographic, acute disease severity, vaccination status, fatigue, and functional status at onset of the disease were considered as potential predictors. The latent class mixed model was used to identify the trajectories over an 18-month period in the cohort as a whole, as well as in the inpatient and outpatient subgroups. Multivariable and univariable regressions models were undertaken to detect predictors of decline., Results: 2163 participants were included. Thirteen percent of the outpatient subgroup (2 classes) and 28% in the inpatient subgroup (3 classes) experienced a more significant decline in HRQOL over time than the rest of the participants. Among all patients, age, sex, disease severity and fatigue, measured on the first assessment visit or on the first day after hospital admission (multivariable models), were identified as the most important predictors of HRQOL decline. Each unit increase in the SARC-F and CFS scores increase the likelihood of belonging to the declining trajectory (univariable models)., Conclusion: Although to different degrees, similar factors explain the decline in HRQOL over time among the overall population, people who have been hospitalized or not. Clinical functional capacity scales could help to determine the risk of HRQOL decline., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

SARS-CoV-2 infection causing the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been responsible for more than 2.8 million deaths and nearly 125 million infections worldwide as of March 2021. In March 2020, the World Health Organization determined that the COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic. The urgency and magnitude of this pandemic demanded immediate action and coordination between local, regional, national, and international actors. In that mission, researchers require access to high-quality biological materials and data from SARS-CoV-2 infected and uninfected patients, covering the spectrum of disease manifestations. The "Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19" (BQC19) is a pan-provincial initiative undertaken in Québec, Canada to enable the collection, storage and sharing of samples and data related to the COVID-19 crisis. As a disease-oriented biobank based on high-quality biosamples and clinical data of hospitalized and non-hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive and negative individuals. The BQC19 follows a legal and ethical management framework approved by local health authorities. The biosamples include plasma, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and DNA and RNA isolated from whole blood. In addition to the clinical variables, BQC19 will provide in-depth analytical data derived from the biosamples including whole genome and transcriptome sequencing, proteome and metabolome analyses, multiplex measurements of key circulating markers as well as anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses. BQC19 will provide the scientific and medical communities access to data and samples to better understand, manage and ultimately limit, the impact of COVID-19. In this paper we present BQC19, describe the process according to which it is governed and organized, and address opportunities for future research collaborations. BQC19 aims to be a part of a global communal effort addressing the challenges of COVID-19., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The quest for understanding and managing the long-term effects of COVID-19, often referred to as Long COVID or post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), remains an active research area. Recent findings highlighted angiopoietin-1 (ANG-1) and p-selectin (P-SEL) as potential diagnostic markers, but validation is essential, given the inconsistency in COVID-19 biomarker studies. Leveraging the biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19) biobank, we analyzed the data of 249 participants. Both ANG-1 and P-SEL levels were significantly higher in patients with PCC participants compared with control subjects at 3 months using the Mann-Whitney U test. We managed to reproduce and validate the findings, emphasizing the importance of collaborative biobanking efforts in enhancing the reproducibility and credibility of Long COVID research outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Following SARS-CoV-2 infection a significant proportion of convalescent individuals develop the post-COVID condition (PCC) that is characterized by wide spectrum of symptoms encompassing various organs. Even though the underlying pathophysiology of PCC is not known, detection of viral transcripts and antigens in tissues other than lungs raise the possibility that PCC may be a consequence of aberrant immune response to the viral antigens. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated B cell and antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 antigens in PCC patients who experienced mild COVID-19 disease during the pre-vaccination period of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study subjects included unvaccinated male and female subjects who developed PCC or not (No-PCC) after clearing RT-PCR confirmed mild COVID-19 infection. SARS-CoV-2 D614G and omicron RBD specific B cell subsets in peripheral circulation were assessed by flow cytometry. IgG, IgG3 and IgA antibody titers toward RBD, spike and nucleocapsid antigens in the plasma were evaluated by ELISA. Results: The frequency of the B cells specific to D614G-RBD were comparable in convalescent groups with and without PCC in both males and females. Notably, in females with PCC, the anti-D614G RBD specific double negative (IgD-CD27-) B cells showed significant correlation with the number of symptoms at acute of infection. Anti-spike antibody responses were also higher at 3 months postinfection in females who developed PCC, but not in the male PCC group. On the other hand, the male PCC group also showed consistently high anti-RBD IgG responses compared to all other groups. Conclusions: The antibody responses to the spike protein, but not the anti-RBD B cell responses diverge between convalescent males and females who develop PCC. Our findings also suggest that sex-related factors may also be involved in the development of PCC via modulating antibody responses to the SARS-CoV-2 antigens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lingering symptoms are frequently reported after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, a condition known as post-COVID-19 condition (PCC). The duration and severity of PCC in immunologically naïve persons remain unclear. Furthermore, the long-term consequences of these chronic symptoms on work and mental health are poorly documented. Objective: To determine the outcome, the risk factors, and the impact on work and mental health associated with post-COVID-19 symptoms. Methods: This prospective population-based study assessed acute COVID-19 symptoms and their evolution for up to nine months following infection. Individuals aged 18 years and older with COVID-19 in three Canadian regions between 1 November 2020 and 31 May 2021 were recruited. Participants completed a questionnaire that was either administered by trained student investigators over the phone or self-administered online. Results: A total of 1349 participants with a mean age of 46.6 ± 16.0 years completed the questionnaire. Participants were mostly unvaccinated at the time of their COVID-19 episode (86.9%). Six hundred and twenty-two participants (48.0%) exhibited one symptom or more, at least three months post-COVID-19. Among participants with PCC, 23.0% to 37.8% experienced fatigue at the time of survey. Moreover, 6.1% expressed psychological distress. Risk factors for PCC and fatigue included female sex (OR = 1.996), higher number of symptoms (OR = 1.292), higher severity of episode (OR = 3.831), and having a mental health condition prior to the COVID-19 episode (OR = 5.155). Conclusions: In this multicenter cohort study, almost half (47%) of the participants reported persistent symptoms >3 months after acute infection. Baseline risk factors for PCC include female sex, number and severity of symptoms during acute infection, and a previous diagnosis of mental health disorder. Having PCC negatively impacted health-related quality of life and these patients were more likely to exhibit psychological distress, as well as fatigue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]