Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases receiving cytokine inhibitors have low prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion.
David SimonKoray TascilarGerhard KrönkeArnd KleyerMario M ZaissFranz HepptChristine MederRaja AtreyaEntcho KlenskePeter DietrichAbdullah AbdullahThorsten KliemGiulia CorteHarriet MorfMoritz LeppkesAndreas E KremerAndreas RammingMilena L PachowskyFlorian SchuchMonika RonnebergerStefan KleinertClara MaierAxel J HueberKarin MangerBernhard MangerCarola BerkingMatthias TenbuschKlaus ÜberlaMichael SticherlingMarkus Friedrich NeurathLarissa Valor-MéndezPublished in: Nature communications (2020)
Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) of the joints, gut and skin are treated with inhibitors of inflammatory cytokines. These cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Investigating anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in IMIDs we observe a reduced incidence of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion in IMID patients treated with cytokine inhibitors compared to patients receiving no such inhibitors and two healthy control populations, despite similar social exposure. Hence, cytokine inhibitors seem to at least partially protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection.