The effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination on Th17 and regulatory T cells in a pregnancy cohort in NYC
- PMID: 38504979
- PMCID: PMC10948419
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1350288
The effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination on Th17 and regulatory T cells in a pregnancy cohort in NYC
Abstract
Disturbances in T-cells, specifically the Th17/Treg balance, have been implicated in adverse pregnancy outcomes. We investigated these two T-cell populations following pre-pregnancy and pregnancy SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination in 351 participants from a pregnancy cohort in New York City (Generation C; 2020-2022). SARS-CoV-2 infection status was determined via laboratory or medical diagnosis and COVID-19 vaccination status via survey and electronic medical records data. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected at routine prenatal visits throughout gestation (median 108 days; IQR 67-191 days) with repeated measures for 104 participants (29.6%). T-cell populations CD4+/CD3+, Th17/CD4+, Treg/CD4+ and the Th17/Treg ratio were quantified using flow cytometry. Results showed that inter-individual differences are a main influencing factor in Th17 and Treg variance, however total variance explained remained small (R2 = 15-39%). Overall, Th17 and Treg populations were not significantly affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy in adjusted linear mixed models (p>0.05), however comparison of repeated measures among SARS-CoV-2 infected participants and non-infected controls suggests a relative increase of the Th17/Treg ratio following infection. In addition, the Th17/Treg ratio was significantly higher after SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to pregnancy (10-138 weeks) compared to controls (β=0.48, p=0.003). COVID-19 vaccination was not associated with Th17 and Treg cells. Our findings suggest an impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the Th17/Treg ratio, likely depending on severity of infection, yet the observed trends and their potential consequences for pregnancy outcomes require further investigation. Our study contributes to growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy does not lead to an exacerbated immune response.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; COVID-19 vaccination; SARS-CoV-2 infection; Th17; Treg; ratio.
Copyright © 2024 Gigase, Graziani, Castro, Lesseur, Rommel, Flores, Perez-Rodriguez, Dolan, Stone, Janevic, Lieb, Bergink and de Witte.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Figures
![Figure 1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10948419/bin/fimmu-15-1350288-g001.gif)
![Figure 2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10948419/bin/fimmu-15-1350288-g002.gif)
![Figure 3](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/10948419/bin/fimmu-15-1350288-g003.gif)
Similar articles
-
T Cell Responses in Pregnant Women Who Received mRNA-Based Vaccination to Prevent COVID-19 Revealed Unknown Exposure to the Natural Infection and Numerous SARS-CoV-2-Specific CD4- CD8- Double Negative T Cells and Regulatory T Cells.Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Feb 7;25(4):2031. doi: 10.3390/ijms25042031. Int J Mol Sci. 2024. PMID: 38396707 Free PMC article.
-
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (inactivated, Vero cell): a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.Trials. 2021 Apr 13;22(1):276. doi: 10.1186/s13063-021-05180-1. Trials. 2021. PMID: 33849629 Free PMC article.
-
T-cell and antibody responses to first BNT162b2 vaccine dose in previously infected and SARS-CoV-2-naive UK health-care workers: a multicentre prospective cohort study.Lancet Microbe. 2022 Jan;3(1):e21-e31. doi: 10.1016/S2666-5247(21)00275-5. Epub 2021 Nov 9. Lancet Microbe. 2022. PMID: 34778853 Free PMC article.
-
COVID-19 and Treg/Th17 imbalance: Potential relationship to pregnancy outcomes.Am J Reprod Immunol. 2020 Nov;84(5):e13304. doi: 10.1111/aji.13304. Epub 2020 Jul 31. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2020. PMID: 32662111 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Immunity after COVID-19 vaccination in people with higher risk of compromised immune status: a scoping review.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Aug 9;8(8):CD015021. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD015021. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022. PMID: 35943061 Free PMC article. Review.
References
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Research Materials
Miscellaneous