Blood, nasal and airway immune responses to SARS-COV-2 vaccination in COPD patients and healthy subjects

<b>Background:</b> Immune response to vaccination differs between individuals. We compared SARS-COV-2 vaccine specific immune responses in COPD patients versus healthy controls (HC) following vaccination. Systemic, nasal and sputum samples were used to examine different anatomical locations. <b>Method:</b> Blood, plasma, nasal and sputum samples were collected from COPD patients (n=11) and HC (n=16) at least 3 weeks post their 2nd SARS-COV-2 vaccination. Spike-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) A and G levels in plasma, nasal and sputum samples were measured by ELISA, while cellular immunity in blood was assessed by measuring spike-protein induced IFNγ. All subjects had no history of SARS-COV-2 infection. Immune response levels were compared to samples from unvaccinated subjects. <b>Results:</b> Anti-spike IgG and IgA levels were increased in plasma from vaccinated individuals, as was cellular immunity. IgG, but not IgA, was increased in nasal (IgG: 0.8 Vs 9.1 ng/ml p=0.02; IgA: 11.6 Vs 11.6 p=0.5) and sputum (IgG: 0.9 Vs 11.0 ng/ml p&lt;0.01; IgA: 31.7 Vs 27.0 p=0.12) samples from vaccinated individuals. Levels of immune responses to vaccination were similar in both COPD patients and HC (Table 1). Plasma IgG levels correlated with nasal (Rho: 0.86 p&lt;0.001) and sputum (Rho: 0.78 p&lt;0.001) levels. <b>Conclusion:</b> Vaccination induced immune responses in the lungs, as well as blood and nose, equally in both COPD patients and healthy subjects. Table 1: Median vaccine-induced immune responses in COPD patients and HC