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People who use drugs show no increase in pre-existing T-cell cross-reactivity toward SARS-CoV-2 but develop a normal polyfunctional T-cell response after standard mRNA vaccination

Authors :
Murat Gainullin
Lorenzo Federico
Julie Røkke Osen
Viktoriia Chaban
Hassen Kared
Amin Alirezaylavasani
Fridtjof Lund-Johansen
Gull Wildendahl
Jon-Aksel Jacobsen
Hina Sarwar Anjum
Richard Stratford
Simen Tennøe
Brandon Malone
Trevor Clancy
John T. Vaage
Kathleen Henriksen
Linda Wüsthoff
Ludvig A. Munthe
Source :
Frontiers in Immunology, Vol 14 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2024.

Abstract

People who use drugs (PWUD) are at a high risk of contracting and developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases due to their lifestyle, comorbidities, and the detrimental effects of opioids on cellular immunity. However, there is limited research on vaccine responses in PWUD, particularly regarding the role that T cells play in the immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we show that before vaccination, PWUD did not exhibit an increased frequency of preexisting cross-reactive T cells to SARS-CoV-2 and that, despite the inhibitory effects that opioids have on T-cell immunity, standard vaccination can elicit robust polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses that were similar to those found in controls. Our findings indicate that vaccination stimulates an effective immune response in PWUD and highlight targeted vaccination as an essential public health instrument for the control of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in this group of high-risk patients.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16643224
Volume :
14
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Immunology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.20fe6e863f8400ab809e52ef269899f
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1235210