Key clinical point: Treatment with interferon (IFN)-beta 1A improved the SARS-CoV-2-mRNA vaccine-specific humoral response in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), which was significantly reduced in patients treated with cladribine, fingolimod, or ocrelizumab.
Major finding: Antispike immunoglobulin (Ig)G levels were significantly higher in IFN-treated patients with MS vs healthy controls (median, 1,916 vs 1,089; P = .029); however, antispike IgG levels were significantly lower in patients treated with cladribine ( P = .002), fingolimod ( P < .0001), or ocrelizumab ( P < .0001).
Study details: This was a prospective monocentric study involving 149 patients with MS treated with disease-modifying therapies who were age- and gender-matched to 26 healthy controls, all of whom had no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and received 2 doses of BNT162b2-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
Disclosures: This study was supported by Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla and others. The authors declared no conflict of interests.
Source: Maniscalco GT et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2021 Dec 18. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103455 .