Assessment of antibody levels to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies receiving treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin

Abstract

Antibodies to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been reported in pooled healthy donor plasma and intravenous immunoglobulin products (IVIG). It is not known whether administration of IVIG increases circulating anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (COVID ab) in IVIG recipients. COVID ab against the receptor binding domain of the spike protein were analyzed using a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) both receiving and not receiving IVIG (IVIG and non-IVIG group, respectively). No significant differences in COVID ab levels were noted between IVIG and non-IVIG groups (417 [67–1342] AU/mL in IVIG vs 5086 [43–40,442] AU/mL in non-IVIG, p = 0.11). In linear regression models including all post-vaccination patient samples, higher number of vaccine doses was strongly associated with higher COVID ab levels (2.85 [1.21, 4.48] log AU/mL, regression coefficient beta [95% CI], p = 0.001), while use of RTX was associated with lower ab levels (2.73 [− 4.53, − 0.93] log AU/mL, beta[95%CI], p = 0.004). In the IVIG group, higher total monthly doses of IVIG were associated with slightly higher COVID ab levels (0.02 [0.002–0.05] log AU/mL, p = 0.04). While patients on IVIG did not have higher COVID ab levels compared to the non-IVIG group, higher monthly doses of IVIG were associated with higher circulating levels of COVID ab in patients receiving IVIG, particularly in patients concomitantly receiving RTX. Our findings suggest that IIM patients, especially those at increased risk of COVID infection and worse COVID outcomes due to RTX therapy may have protective benefits when on concurrent IVIG treatment.