SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines do not worsen autoimmunity in patients with autoimmune liver diseases

Introduction and aims

mRNA vaccines against Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection have been associated with immune-related adverse reactions. We aimed at investigating whether SARS-CoV-2 vaccines may worsen autoimmune reactions in patients with autoimmune liver diseases.

Methods

We centrally tested a large panel of liver- and non-liver-related autoantibodies in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and in healthcare workers (HW) before and after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.

Results

49 PBC, 35 AIH, 9 PSC and 38 HW were included. The proportion of subjects with at least one autoantibody positivization after vaccination was 11 % for HW, 37 % for AIH, 35 % for PBC and 56 % for PSC patients, patients having a significantly higher frequency of positivization as compared to HW. The proportion of seropositive subjects before vaccination who had at least one autoantibody negativization was 25 % for HW, 57 % for AIH, 40 % for PBC and 50 % for PSC, AIH patients having a significantly higher frequency of negativization as compared to HW. In the AIH group, the number of autoantibody negativizations was higher than the number of positivizations. The BNT162b2 vaccine was associated with a higher risk of developing new autoantibodies as compared to the mRNA-1273 vaccine. No new-onset autoimmune disease was observed after one year. One AIH patient had a relapse after vaccination.

Conclusion

mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines do not induce short-term worsening of autoimmunity in patients with autoimmune liver diseases.