A Study of Humoral Immune Response to Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine in Patients with Psoriasis Receiving Biologics and Small Molecules

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global public health problem due to its rapid transmission and high infection rate. A crucial defense against SARS-CoV-2 infection is vaccination, which is mostly accomplished by generating protective antibodies.1 Biologics and small molecule medications have been developed recently to give patients with psoriasis new alternatives.2 COVID-19 vaccine was safe and effective for patients with psoriasis who were receiving biologics.3 Tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitors (TYK2i) are presently employed as a novel small molecule medicine targeting TYK2 to intervene in the release of psoriasis-associated inflammatory factors; however, the majority of current data focus on clinical trials evaluating its application in the treatment of psoriasis.4 Evidence on its effect on the immune response of patients following vaccination is lacking. By recognizing the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) specifically target the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of Spike protein and block its binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), thereby preventing the virus from entering host cells and preventing infection.5 In order to investigate the impact of systemic treatments on the humoral immune response following COVID-19 vaccination in patients with psoriasis, we measured the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs. We recruited patients from the Department of Dermatology. Participants were excluded from having a history of exposure to or infection with COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2 infection was excluded using PCR testing. This study was approved by the ethics committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China (Ref no: 2023-116). The research process complied with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients. All patients received inactivated COVID-19 vaccines (either Sinovac-CoronaVac or Blood samples were collected between 2 weeks and 6 months following vaccination and were centrifuged at 1000 x g for 15 minutes at 4 degrees C overnight. Then serum was collected, divided, and frozen at -80 degrees C. We used the SARS-CoV-2 Neutralizing Antibody Test Kit (CusaBio) based on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 NAbs. Follow-up experiments were performed after diluting the serum samples by a factor of 10, and the experiments were repeated for each sample. Absorbance (OD value) was measured at 450 nm wavelength by an enzyme-labeled instrument. The specific operation process is carried out according to the manufac