This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of:

Quan J, Ma C, Panaccione R, Hracs L, Sharifi N, Herauf M, Makovinović A, Coward S, Windsor JW, Caplan L, Ingram RJ. Kanji JN, Tipples G, Holodinsky JK, Bernstein CN, Mahoney DJ, Bernatsky S, Benchimol EI, Kaplan GG, STOP COVID-19 in IBD Research Group. Serological responses to three doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in inflammatory bowel disease. Gut. 2022 May 23. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2022-327440

The results and/or conclusions contained in the research do not necessarily reflect the views of all CITF members.

Over 99% of a subset of individuals living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) mounted an antibody response against the spike protein after their third vaccine dose, found a letter published in Gut, under the leadership of Dr. Gil Kaplan (University of Calgary) and co-authored by Dr. Sasha Bernatsky (Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre), who are funded by CITF. In this newly published study, age, sex, IBD type, vaccine product, and vaccine schedule were not found to influence the generation of antibodies; however, individuals taking corticosteroids had lower spike antibody concentrations compared to those who did not.

Key findings:

  • 6% of a cohort of 232 individuals aged 18 and older living with IBD generated spike antibodies following their third COVID-19 vaccine dose.
  • Starting at least one week following the third dose, spike antibody concentrations were found to decay at a rate of about 12% per week following vaccination.
  • Participants who had a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, along with three doses of vaccine, had a higher concentration of spike antibodies compared to those without a previous infection.
  • Participants treated with corticosteroids, such as prednisone, mounted decreased levels of spike antibodies compared to those not using corticosteroids.
  • Post-third dose antibody responses were high for all other IBD therapies and combination therapies.
  • There was no association between age, sex, IBD type, vaccine product, or vaccine schedule and spike antibody concentrations.

There was no comparator group of individuals without IBD in this study.