This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of:

Enilama O, Yau K, Er L, Atiquzzaman M, Oliver MJ, Romney MG, Leis JA, Abe KT, Qi F, Colwill K, Gingras AC, Hladunewich MA, Levin A. Humoral response following 3 doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in patients with Non-Dialysis-Dependent CKD: an observational study. Can J Kidney Health Dis. 2024 January 29. doi: doi.org/10.1177/20543581231224127

The results and/or conclusions contained in the research do not necessarily reflect the views of all CITF members.

A CITF-funded proof-of-principle study, published in the Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease, found that patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD)—a typically understudied population— had high seropositivity rates for anti-spike and anti-RBD after three doses of an mRNA COVID-29 vaccine. This study was led by Omosomi Enilama and Dr. Adeera Levin (both from University of British Columbia) in collaboration with CITF-funded researchers Dr. Michelle Hladunewich and Dr. Matthew Oliver (both from Sunnybrook Research Institute), Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras (University of Toronto), and Dr. Marc Romney (Providence Health Care and University of British Columbia).

In this study, 285 patients with NDD-CKD were recruited from outpatient kidney clinics across Ontario and British Columbia. Between Aug 27, 2021, and Nov 30, 2022, these participants provided blood or serum samples for serological testing every three months over a nine-month follow-up period. Anti-spike, anti-RBD, and anti-nucleocapsid protein levels were determined by ELISA. Information on demographics, comorbidities, medications, and hospital admissions was also obtained.

Key findings:

  • Following the third dose, anti-spike and anti-RBD levels peaked at two months at 1131 BAU/ml and 1672 BAU/ml, respectively.
  • Over the nine-month follow-up period, seropositivity rates for anti-spike and anti-RBD were at 93% and 85%, respectively.
  • Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) were not shown to be associated with either the extent to which robust antibody responses were mounted or with antibody levels over time.
  • Immunosuppressive treatment negatively affected ability to mount a robust anti-spike response.
  • Age was also shown to have an impact with older individuals showing a more pronounced decline in antibody levels over time.

To date, a limited number of studies have investigated the COVID-19 vaccine response in a cohort of patients with NDD-CKD, and even fewer have looked at responses to three doses of an mRNA vaccine. This study provides insights into the magnitude and duration of antibody responses in this specific population.