COVID-19 Vaccine Effective in Patients with Celiac Disease Autoimmunity

Celiac.com 11/13/2023 - A recent study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in individuals with celiac disease autoimmunity, a group not included in clinical trials due to their immune conditions. Here's what they found.

Their retrospective cohort study focused on patients who had positive autoantibodies against tissue transglutaminase (tTG-IgA), a marker associated with celiac disease. The study compared a cohort of almost 5,400 vaccinated patients with celiac disease autoimmunity to just under 15,000 matched vaccinated patients without celiac disease. The purpose was to evaluate how effective the vaccine was in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals with celiac disease autoimmunity.

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The team divided patients into subgroups based on their tTG-IgA level at diagnosis, and their current serology status. The research analyzed the risk of breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection between these groups using a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and log-rank tests. This statistical analysis showed that the risk of infection was similar between the groups.

Furthermore, a Cox regression survival analysis was conducted to compare the hazard ratio for breakthrough infection among patients with celiac disease autoimmunity to matched patients without celiac disease. The results showed that the hazard ratio for those with celiac disease autoimmunity was 0.91, indicating that the COVID-19 vaccine was effective in preventing infection in patients with celiac disease autoimmunity.

COVID-19 Vaccination is Effective in Individuals with Celiac Disease Autoimmunity

In summary, this study provided evidence that COVID-19 vaccination is effective in individuals with celiac disease autoimmunity. The effectiveness of the vaccine in this group was comparable to that seen in the general population. 

This research is significant because it offers insights into the vaccine's performance in a specific population that had been excluded from initial clinical trials. It indicates that COVID-19 vaccines can provide protection to those with celiac disease autoimmunity, contributing to our understanding of vaccine effectiveness in diverse health conditions.

Read more in Viruses 2023, 15(9), 1968

The research team included Amir Ben-Tov; Benjamin Lebwohl; Tamar Banon; Gabriel Chodick; Revital Kariv; Amit Assa; Sivan Gazit; and Tal Patalon. They are variously affiliated with the Kahn Sagol Maccabi (KSM) Research and Innovation Center, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv 68125, Israel; the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 68125, Israel; the Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA; the Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; the Department of Gastroenterology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv 68125, Israel; and The Juliet Keidan Institute of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.