In a recent study from Cedars-Sinai, scientists found that medicine for inflammatory bowel disease may protect against severe COVID-19.
In the study, the team found that getting the COVID-19 vaccination strengthened one type of immune response to the COVID-19 virus in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients even though they were taking immunosuppressant medication.
They found that with COVID-19 vaccination most of the main immunosuppressive treatments for IBD preserved the T-cell response, with one notable exception: anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drug therapy.
This biologic treatment actually elevated T-cell activity in the vaccinated patients. This may help protect them from severe disease after breakthrough infection.
Biologics such as anti-TNF are medications that suppress inflammation, the body’s protective response to injury and disease, which can make IBD worse when it becomes chronic.
T-cells, a type of white blood cell, develop in the bone marrow and play a critical role in fighting off viruses.
The team says augmentation of the T-cell response by anti-TNF therapy may partially explain the recently reported association of biologics with reduced hospitalizations or death from COVID-19.
The T-cell immune response is important for reducing the severity of the disease after COVID infection.
The study authors note that the findings point to the potential of developing clinical T-cell response tests that could be used to monitor new vaccine and booster outcomes.
The takeaway for people receiving immunosuppressant therapies for the disease is encouraging.
The team says this should be important reassurance to vaccinated IBD patients who are receiving treatment; their therapies may be offering important protection from serious illness or hospitalization if they get a breakthrough infection.
It should also encourage them, and their doctors, to maintain their treatment during this phase of the pandemic and to keep up with their booster shots.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about vitamin D deficiency linked to severe COVID-19 and death, and why people with blood type O have lower COVID-19 risk.
For more information about COVID, please see recent studies that vitamin D3 could help people fight against COVID-19, and results showing people over 50s may develop this disease after COVID-19.
The research is published in IBD, and Frontiers in Immunology and was conducted by Gil Melmed et al.
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