Third COVID-19 vaccine dose boosts antibody function in Rwandans with high HIV viral load

Cynthia L Swan; Valentine Dushimiyimana; Pacifique Ndishimye; Rachelle Buchanan; Anthony Yourkowski; Sage Semafara; Sabin Nsanzimana; Magen E Francis; Brittany Thivierge; Jocelyne Lew; Antonio Facciuolo; Volker Gerdts; Darryl Falzarano; Calvin Sjaarda; David J Kelvin; Leopold Bitunguhari; Alyson A Kelvin

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107959

Third COVID-19 vaccine dose boosts antibody function in Rwandans with high HIV viral load

iScience. 2023 Sep 19;26(10):107959. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107959. eCollection 2023 Oct 20.

Authors

Cynthia L Swan¹, Valentine Dushimiyimana², Pacifique Ndishimye^{3

4}, Rachelle Buchanan¹, Anthony Yourkowski^{1

5}, Sage Semafara⁶, Sabin Nsanzimana⁷, Magen E Francis^{1

5}, Brittany Thivierge¹, Jocelyne Lew¹, Antonio Facciuolo^{1

8}, Volker Gerdts^{1

8}, Darryl Falzarano^{1

8}, Calvin Sjaarda^{9

10}, David J Kelvin³, Leopold Bitunguhari¹¹, Alyson A Kelvin^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization VIDO, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E3, Canada.
² Research, Innovation and Data Science division at Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda.
³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
⁴ African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kigali, Rwanda.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E5, Canada.
⁶ Rwanda Network of the People living with HIV (RRP+), Kigali, Rwanda.
⁷ Ministry of Health, Kigali, Rwanda.
⁸ Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada.
⁹ Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada.
¹⁰ Queen's Genomics Lab at Ongwanada (Q-GLO), Ongwanada Resource Centre, Kingston, ON K7M 8A6, Canada.
¹¹ HIV clinic at Kigali University Teaching Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) causing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) poses a greater health risk to immunocompromized individuals including people living with HIV (PLWH). However, most studies on PLWH have been conducted in higher-income countries. We investigated the post-vaccination antibody responses of PLWH in Rwanda by collecting peripheral blood from participants after receiving a second or third COVID-19 vaccine. Virus-binding antibodies as well as antibody neutralization ability against all major SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were analyzed. We found that people with high HIV viral loads and two COVID-19 vaccine doses had lower levels of binding antibodies that were less virus neutralizing and less cross-reactive compared to control groups. A third vaccination increased neutralizing antibody titers. Our data suggest that people with high HIV viral loads require a third dose of vaccine to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 virus and new variants as they emerge.

Keywords: Public health; Virology.