Coronavirus-Specific Antibody and T Cell Responses Developed after Sputnik V Vaccination in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Abstract

The clinical course of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has shown that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are characterized by a high mortality rate, poor response to standard treatment, and low virus-specific antibody response after recovery and/or vaccination. To date, there are no data on the safety and efficacy of the combined vector vaccine Sputnik V in patients with CLL. Here, we analyzed and compared the magnitudes of the antibody and T cell responses after vaccination with the Sputnik V vaccine among healthy donors and individuals with CLL with different statuses of preexposure to coronavirus. We found that vaccination of the COVID-19-recovered individuals resulted in the boosting of pre-existing immune responses in both healthy donors and CLL patients. However, the COVID-19-naïve CLL patients demonstrated a considerably lower antibody response than the healthy donors, although they developed a robust T cell response. Regardless of the previous infection, the individuals over 70 years old demonstrated a decreased response to vaccination, as did those receiving anti-CD20 therapy. In summary, we showed that Sputnik V, like other vaccines, did not induce a robust antibody response in individuals with CLL; however, it provided for the development of a significant anti-COVID-19 T cell response.

Keywords: COVID-19; ELISpot; SARS-CoV-2; T cells; antibody; chronic lymphocytic leukemia; immune response; vaccine.

Figure 1

Dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2–specific antibody and T cell responses. Participants were split according to their positivity for the antibody (A) and T cell (B) responses. Immune responses were evaluated prior to the vaccination on day 1 (d1), prior to the administration of the second component on day 21 (d21), and 28 days after second component administration (d49). A symmetric logarithm (symlog) scale was used for the y-axis, with the range from 0 to the first axis tick being in linear scale, and the rest of the range in logarithmic scale. Dotted horizontal lines denote the positivity threshold. p-values > 5 × 10² are marked with ‘ns’; 1 × 10² < p-values ≤ 5 × 10² are marked with ‘^*’; 1 × 10⁴ < p-values ≤ 1 × 10³ with ‘^***’; and p-values ≤ 1 × 10⁴ with ‘^****’ (two-sided Mann–Whitney U test).

Figure 2

Dynamics of the antibody and T cell responses depending on the presence of PCR-confirmed COVID-19 prior to the vaccination. Anti-S protein IgG titers (A) and S protein-specific IFNγ-producing T cells (B) were evaluated among CLL patients prior to the vaccination on day 1 (d1), prior to the administration of the second component on day 21 (d21), and 28 days after the second component administration (d49). A symmetric logarithm (symlog) scale was used for the y-axis, with the range from 0 to the first axis tick being in linear scale, and the rest of the range in logarithmic scale. Dotted horizontal line denotes positivity threshold. 1 × 10² < p-values ≤ 5 × 10² are marked with ‘*’; 1 × 10³ < p-values ≤ 1 × 10² with ‘**’; 1 × 10⁴ < p-values ≤ 1 × 10³ with ‘***’ (two-sided Mann–Whitney U test).