Korean J Transplant.  2022 Nov;36(Supple 1):S64. 10.4285/ATW2022.F-1815.

Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in kidney transplant recipients: a cross-sectional study in Korea

• Kim SK
• Song SH
• Chung KY
• Jung D

• KMID: 2535482
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4285/ATW2022.F-1815

Abstract

Data of antibody responses in Asian kidney transplant recipients are scarce. We identified 97 Korean kidney transplant recipients who received two or three doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Patient samples were cross-sectionally tested with Elecsys anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody (Roche Diagnostics) and R-FIND SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody ELISA (SG Medical). High an-ti-RBD antibody responses were defined as anti-RBD antibody 100 U/mL. High anti-RBD antibody responses and neutralizing anti-body responses were detected in 51/97 (52.6%) patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that increased antibody responses when the time from transplant to vaccination was 2.5 years or longer (odd ratio [OR], 1.31; confidence interval [CI], 1.09–1.57). Anti-RBD antibody titers (441.3 vs. 2531.43 U/mL, P=0.006) and neutralizing antibody levels (25.6% vs. 56.4%, P<0.001) were significantly lower in patients who were vaccinated less than 2.5 years after the transplantation. Korean kidney transplant recipients had suboptimal antibody responses after the second or third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Shorter time from transplantation to vaccina-tion was an independent risk factor of a low or negative anti-RBD antibody response. Further studies are needed to evaluate the immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in Asian kidney transplant recipients.