Association between physical activity and immunogenicity of an inactivated virus vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Gualano, Bruno; Lemes, Italo R.; Silva, Rafael P.; Swinton, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2021.12.016

Association between physical activity and immunogenicity of an inactivated virus vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Gualano, Bruno; Lemes, Italo R.; Silva, Rafael P.; Swinton, Paul

Authors

Bruno Gualano

Italo R. Lemes

Rafael P. Silva

Dr Paul Swinton p.swinton@rgu.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate whether physical activity is associated with enhanced immunogenicity of a SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine (Coronavac) in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARD) (n = 898) and in non-ARD (n = 197) individuals without pre-existing immunogenicity to SARS-CoV-2. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study within an open-label, single-arm, phase 4 vaccination trial. Immunogenicity was assessed after vaccination by measuring seroconversion rates of total anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG (SC), geometric mean titers of anti-S1/S2 IgG (GMT), factor-increase in GMT (FI-GMT), frequency of neutralizing antibody (NAb), and median neutralizing activity. Physical activity (active being defined as ≥ 150 min/week) and sedentary behavior (> 8h/day) were assessed by questionnaire. Results: Physically active ARD patients (n = 494) were younger and less frequently used prednisone/biologics than inactive patients (n = 404). After controlling for covariates, active patients exhibited greater SC (OR: 1.4 [95%CI: 1.1–2.0]), GMT (32% [95%CI: 8.8–60) and FI-GMT (33% [95%CI: 9.6–63%]) vs. inactive. Cluster analysis (physical activity/sedentary status) revealed greater GMT (43.0% [95% CI: 11.0–84.0%) and FI-GMT (48.0% [95%CI: 14.0–92.0%]) in active/non-sedentary vs. inactive/sedentary ARD patients. A dose–response was observed, with greater benefits for the group of patients performing ≥ 350 min/week of physical activity (OR: 1.6 [95%CI: 1.1–2.4]; 41% [95%CI: 10–80%]; 35% [95%CI: 4.3–74], for SC, GMT, and FI-GMT, respectively) vs. the least active group (≤30 min/week). Greater SC (OR: 9.9 [95%CI: 1.1–89.0]) and GMT (26% [95%CI: 2.2–56.0%]) were observed in active vs. inactive non-ARD. Conclusions: A physically active lifestyle may enhance SARS-CoV-2 vaccine immunogenicity, a finding of particular clinical relevance for immunocompromised patients. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov #NCT04754698.

Citation

GUALANO, B., LEMES, I.R., SILVA, R.P. et al. 2022. Association between physical activity and immunogenicity of an inactivated virus vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Brain, behavior and immunity [online], 101, pages 49-56. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2021.12.016

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 18, 2021
Online Publication Date	Dec 23, 2021
Publication Date	Mar 31, 2022
Deposit Date	Feb 22, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Dec 24, 2022
Journal	Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
Print ISSN	0889-1591
Electronic ISSN	1090-2139
Publisher	Elsevier
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	101
Pages	49-56
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2021.12.016
Keywords	Exercise; Lifestyle; Sedentary behavior; SARS-CoV-2; Coronavirus; COVID-19
Public URL	https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1569327
Related Public URLs	https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1602992