To examine humoral and cellular immune responses induced by a live attenuated herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with osteoarthritis (OA) patients.
This was an observational study of a live attenuated HZ vaccine in 41 patients with RA receiving conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARD) and/or low-dose glucocorticoids (GC) and in 28 patients with OA. Blood samples were obtained before and at 12 weeks after HZ vaccination. Immunogenicity was assessed using varicella zoster virus (VZV)-specific interferon gamma ELISA and an in-house ELISA. Clinical outcomes, including adverse events, HZ occurrence, and RA flares, were analyzed.
No patients developed vaccination-induced HZ during the followup period (median = 1.6 yrs). The HZ vaccine induced a significant increase in the VZV-specific enzyme-linked immunospot spot-forming units and anti-VZV immunoglobulin G antibodies in patients with RA and OA. The number of spot-forming units was lower in patients with RA than in patients with OA both at baseline and at 12 weeks after vaccination. The disease activity index for patients with RA was similar at baseline and at 12 weeks after vaccination. However, 6 patients with RA (14.6%) experienced a flare during the 12 weeks. Overall, 17 (24.6%) participants reported a mild adverse event such as an injection site reaction (11.6%).
The HZ vaccine induced VZV-specific cellular and humoral responses in patients with RA. Although patients with RA showed a weaker vaccine-induced VZV-specific cellular immune response than patients with OA, the vaccine may be considered in patients with RA receiving cDMARD and/or low dose GC.