Cellular and humoral immunogenicity of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with hematologic malignancies

Recent studies have shown a suboptimal humoral response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines in patients diagnosed with hematologic malignancies; however, data about cellular immunogenicity are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate both the humoral and cellular immunogenicity 1 month after the second dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine. Antibody titers were measured by using the Elecsys and LIAISON anti–SARS-CoV-2 S assays, and T-cell response was assessed by using interferon-γ release immunoassay technology. Overall, 76.3% (184 of 241) of patients developed humoral immunity, and the cellular response rate was 79% (184 of 233). Hypogammaglobulinemia, lymphopenia, active hematologic treatment, and anti-CD20 therapy during the previous 6 months were associated with an inferior humoral response. Conversely, age >65 years, active disease, lymphopenia, and immunosuppressive treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were associated with an impaired cellular response. A significant dissociation between the humoral and cellular responses was observed in patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy (the humoral response was 17.5%, whereas the cellular response was 71.1%). In these patients, B-cell aplasia was confirmed while T-cell counts were preserved. In contrast, humoral response was observed in 77.3% of patients undergoing immunosuppressive treatment of GVHD, whereas only 52.4% had a cellular response. The cellular and humoral responses to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 vaccine in patients with hematologic malignancies are highly influenced by the presence of treatments such as anti-CD20 therapy and immunosuppressive agents. This observation has implications for the further management of these patients.The authors also thank the Cellex Foundation for providing research facilities and equipment and the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya for institutional support

Pubertal development in european sea bass: Evaluation of germ cell molecular markers

30th CECE & 9th ISFE : Joint Conference of the European Society for Comparative Endocrinology and of the International Society for Fish Endocrinology, 4-8 September 2022, Faro, PortugalThe European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, is a highly valued species in Mediterranean aquaculture. The expansion of its culture requires basic studies to improve the understanding of pathways and factors involved in the first sexual maturation and, therefore, the onset of puberty. These studies will make it possible to delay the onset of puberty, generally linked to growth retardation, and thus obtain larger fish with a higher economic value by marketing time. This work is aimed to contribute to the knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that regulate the onset of pubertal development, in particular on sea bass males, and identifying the presence and expression of possible molecular markers involved in this process. In addition, the expression of these markers in pre-pubertal females was also assessed. The study focused on the initial stages of testicular maturation, mainly stage I and stage II-III, identifying highly expressed dazl, rec8 and vgll3 as possible molecular markers. Two isoforms of dazl were expressed in testes, both the complete and newly alternative splicing generated isoform (exon 7; dazl_Δ7), whereas, in ovaries, only dazl_Δ7 could be found. Likewise, vgll3 in testes expressed two isoforms, one complete and another probably formed by an alternative splicing event derived from the retention of an intron around 100-200 bp. The high expression levels of dazl and rec8 allowed for the re-assembling and curation of the sequences initially annotated in Ensembl. Moreover, an in silico analysis allowed us to describe the structure and phylogeny of these genes in vertebrates. In particular, the high transcription levels of rec8 -a stra8 homologue with a prominent role as a meiosis gatekeeper in other vertebrates- during the onset of meiosis suggest that this gene may be regulating meiosis entry in this and other fish species as well. Additional studies are underway to address this hypothesis fullyFunded by a project from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology SPERMATOGEST (RTI2018-094667-B-C21). ND had the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation, from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (CEX2019-000928-S), and NS by a Severo Ochoa FPI scholarship (CEX2019-000928-S-21-4)Peer reviewe

Cellular and humoral immunogenicity of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with hematologic malignancies

Recent studies have shown a suboptimal humoral response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines in patients diagnosed with hematologic malignancies; however, data about cellular immunogenicity are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate both the humoral and cellular immunogenicity 1 month after the second dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine. Antibody titers were measured by using the Elecsys and LIAISON anti-SARS-CoV-2 S assays, and T-cell response was assessed by using interferon-γ release immunoassay technology. Overall, 76.3% (184 of 241) of patients developed humoral immunity, and the cellular response rate was 79% (184 of 233). Hypogammaglobulinemia, lymphopenia, active hematologic treatment, and anti-CD20 therapy during the previous 6 months were associated with an inferior humoral response. Conversely, age >65 years, active disease, lymphopenia, and immunosuppressive treatment of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) were associated with an impaired cellular response. A significant dissociation between the humoral and cellular responses was observed in patients treated with anti-CD20 therapy (the humoral response was 17.5%, whereas the cellular response was 71.1%). In these patients, B-cell aplasia was confirmed while T-cell counts were preserved. In contrast, humoral response was observed in 77.3% of patients undergoing immunosuppressive treatment of GVHD, whereas only 52.4% had a cellular response. The cellular and humoral responses to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 vaccine in patients with hematologic malignancies are highly influenced by the presence of treatments such as anti-CD20 therapy and immunosuppressive agents. This observation has implications for the further management of these patients